• Covid19 reliefs to delay amid confusion that has locked many members from attendance to the sittings.
• The Senate and National Assembly were scheduled to sit on Tuesday and Wednesday respectively.
Image: PSC
Parliamentary sittings have been called off following President Uhuru Kenyatta’s orders on containment of Nairobi, and Coast region.
The Senate and National Assembly were scheduled to sit on Tuesday and Wednesday respectively.
The Houses were due to transact critical pieces of legislation with reliefs for Kenyans in the face of the Coronavirus pandemic.
National Assembly Speaker Justin Muturi and his Senate counterpart Kenneth Lusaka said in a notice to members that the sittings were postponed indefinitely.
In the circumstances, it has, therefore, become necessary to inform you that it will not be possible to hold the sittings of the Houses of Parliament as scheduled until further notice." the memo reads.
"The leadership of the two Houses is consulting and shall advise on the means by which urgent business that is before the Houses of Parliament shall be transacted remotely."
President Kenyatta, in his address to the nation on Monday, directed that there would be no movement into and out of Nairobi for the next 21 days.
Parliament’s chambers are based at the capital and since the pandemic slowed down office presence, a number of lawmakers travelled upcountry.
The President’s containment orders specified there would be no movement by road, rail, or air in and out of the metropolitan area.
The same will apply to Kwale, Kilifi and Mombasa starting Wednesday at 7pm, measures taken to bolster the night curfew and other COVID-19 prevention measures.
A number of lawmakers told the Star they had prepared to travel but cut shot the plans amid the uncertainty staged by the orders.
Several MPs told the Star on the phone that they were keen on attending the Wednesday sittings to at least allow the government to operationalise emergency funds.
MPs Khatib Mwashetani (Lunga Lunga), Caleb Kositany (Soy), and Kisumu West’s Olago Aluoch said the orders found them while out of town.
“I had prepared to be in Nairobi tomorrow in preparation for the Wednesday sittings. My situation is different as Mombasa will also be contained from Wednesday,” Mwashetani said.
Kositany said he had prepared to drive to Nairobi from Eldoret so as to attend the business which has since been postponed.
Olago, speaking from Kisumu, said: “Until there is clarity on how to go about the containment orders without breaking the law, we will just wait.”
The postponement may also come as an inconvenience for a number that had also travelled to Nairobi for the special sittings.
Pokot South MP David Pkosing and Transport committee chairman told the Star he had critical roles to play in the amendment to the tax laws affecting the transport sector.
His Muhoroni counterpart James K’Oyoo said he had just arrived in Nairobi hours before the containment order was issued.