• To carry out public participation to see if it benefits mwananchi.
• Group has already put together a team of experts to examine the Bill and advise.
County assemblies have supported the Punguza Mizigo constitutional amendment initiative.
The County Assemblies Forum said "it heralds some progress” for Kenya.
This is a major score for Thirdway Alliance leader Ekuro Aukot, the proponent of the push to amend the Constitution through a referendum.
The forum, which represents all the 47 county assemblies, said it had set up a team of legal experts to analyse the Bill and provide technical advice.
“Our preliminary consideration now is that this Punguza Mizigo Bill heralds some progress that we have been yearning for as Kenyans,” it said at a press conference at its Flamingo officers in Nairobi.
Chairman Ndegwa Wahome (Nyandarua county assembly speaker), said they were happy with most of the proposals in the Bill as they seek to strengthen devolution.
“We specifically are happy with the proposal for ward level development and increase of the shareable revenue to the devolved funds,” said Wahome, who is leading a new team that was elected last week.
To shore up support for the Bill, the forum said it will hold consultation meetings with the leadership of all the 47 county assemblies before making a final declaration.
Wahome said the consultation forums will be part of the broader public participation processes to examine the net benefits of the Punguza Mizigo initiative on Kenyans.
Further, the MCAs and County Speakers' lobby group revealed that they may intend to use the forums to propose joint amendments to the Punzuza Mizigo (Constitutional amendment) Bill, 2019.
The forum said the MCAs in their respective counties will also invite the public and other stakeholders to contribute their views and perceptions on the contents of the bill.
A team of experts will then sit to review and consolidate all the proposed amendments to the bill which will then be sent to all the 47 county assemblies for consideration and passage.
“In the absence of a referendum Act at the national level, we are considering issues such as how to handle or collate amendments introduced at the 47 county assemblies,” he said.
This is because, according to CAF, the Bill — which has already been received by all the 47 county assemblies — will undergo the ordinary process, which includes making amendments.
However, the Constitution does not envisage a scenario where a popular bill backed by at least 1 million voters is amended by MCAs as the proponents signed up based on specific contents.
Parliament is already racing against time to enact a legal framework to provide for the process of holding a national referendum as the Punguza Mizigo initiate gathers momentum.
Without such a law in place, a referendum would be a tall order for the country that has embarked on the process to tinker with the Constitution, nine years after it was popularly enacted in a referendum.
Yesterday, Aukot who has kicked off countrywide tours to popularise the bill to MCAs said the initiative was being funded by well-wishers.
Speaking at the Murang’a County Assembly on Tuesday, Aukot said he has opened a pay bill number through which Kenyans have been sending money to support his activities.
He promised that funds received from well-wishers will be accounted for.
“We have a pay bill number that we are launching here in Murang’a today so the doubting Thomases can understand from where we source our funds,” he said.
There have been concerns on Aukot's source of funds that he is using to move around the county assemblies given that his Thirdway Alliance is not funded by the Exchequer and has no significant membership.
Edited by Eliud Kibii