National Assembly Majority Leader Aden Duale has poked holes in the call for a referendum, saying that the law has gaps that need to be filled before it is conducted.
“Whereas the Parliament has the way to amend the Constitution, there is no timeline. The president can even decide to keep the Bill even for two years. The president can decide to sabotage it because there is no timeline on when he should sign the document,” Duale said.
He spoke on Friday during a National Assembly media engagement with the Editors Guild and the Media Council in Kisumu.
“There is no law providing how a referendum should be done,” Duale said citing Article 256(5) of the Constitution.
Duale gave an example of 10 initiatives that champion for change of the Constitution.
“Does it mean that we will have a referendum for all initiatives? There must be a legislation on this gaps,” he said.
The Majority Leader also took a swipe at IEBC, asking what tools they had to verifty signatures in regards to Punguza Mizigo bill.
“Do they have a procedure of verifying the signatures? I can go to Huduma Centre and collect signatures? Aukot needs to tell us how he got a million signatures,” he said.
“What if he went to an MPESA shop to get signatures?”he posed
Duale also asked what process does the MCAs use to reject the Punguza Mizigo Bill.“
"What does the approval process by counties hold? Who is the person who should introduce the Bill to the floor of the house? Constitutional lawyers are silent on this,” he said.
Meanwhile, Speaker of the National Assembly Justin Muturi, who was in attendance, said Parliament has employed two nurses on contract for 'childbearing MPS'.
Muturi said the nurses will help the mothers ‘who are childbearing’ and provide all facilities.
“We have many childbearing MPs. In all fairness, we will provide all the facilities required,” he said.
“ We are making provisions for this and I expect a report on this soon.”
This was in regards to the MP who went to parliament with a baby.
Kwale woman Representative Zulekha Hassan was on August 7 ordered out of the National Assembly for disrupting a parliamentary session.
The legislator was kicked out of the chambers after she walked in with a baby.
