Senators are reconvening tomorrow after a two-week break amid tight measures that will, in an unprecedented move, allow them access to the House in shifts.
In a bid to tame the Coronavirus disease, only 15 members will be allowed in the chamber at any one time. The lawmakers took a break on March 17, necessitated by the need to check the spread of the virus, which has been wreaking havoc across the world.
Some 38 cases have been confirmed in Kenya. One person has died and another patient has recovered. The first case was reported on March 13. Globally, about 30,000 people have died and more than 600,000 have been infected.
In view of the foregoing, Senate Speaker Kenneth Lusaka said the Parliamentary Service Commission and the House leadership has put in place "unprecedented" measures to secure the members and staff.
"We are working on logistics. The quorum is 15 members, so because of the constraints of our chamber, we may just restrict to the minimum quorum number that is required," he said.
The Senate — with 67 members, 47 elected and 20 nominated — requires a minimum of 15 members to prosecute its business. However, critical businesses such as the passage of bills touching on the counties require the input of at least 24 members.
The team working on logistics has established that a maximum of 38 senators can fit in the chamber if they observe a one-metre distance from each other as guided by the government. But the speaker said they will not take chances and will only allow the minimum quorum of 15 members at any moment.
"We will ask some to stay out. We don’t want to put the life of any member at risk," he emphasised.
The immediate business will be deliberating on whether they should continue sitting in the wake of the disease.
“On that day, we are going to make a decision on whether we need to continue or review our position. When we made the decision to come back, the crisis was just starting. We had not recognised the magnitude of the problem,” he noted.
Lusaka said the House leadership was exploring options, including but not limited to introducing teleconferencing, to protect members as they transact business.
Minority Chief Whip Mutula Kilonzo Jr said they have a full in-tray of issues to deal with as strict measures are being taken to secure them.
The House has received the Division of Revenue Bill, 2020, from the National Assembly and the same is set for introduction in the senate for First Reading.
The Bill is an important piece of legislation that divides money collected by the taxman between the counties and the national government.
"We want to expedite the process because the coronavirus is going to pose a challenge to counties in terms of finance," he said.
"But more importantly, we want to deliberate on whether the new proposals of the President have any bearing on conditional allocation to counties, in terms of health and how we can use that framework and the money set aside by the President to deal with this crisis."
The Makueni senator disclosed that they will invite the national response team on the coronavirus chaired by Health CS Mutahi Kagwe to shed light on how it is combating the disease and the challenges it is facing.
The members will be keen to hear and receive from them any legislative proposals on how to improve government response to the disease.
"We want to hear what they are doing and [legislative] proposals they have to fight this war. We want to hear how Kagwe’s team is working with the counties because health is a devolved function," he said.
