Senators recovene Tuesday afternoon to approve a crucial Bill on county cash and discuss measures to mitigate the spread of coronavirus.
The lawmakers revised the frequency of their sittings to once a week to check the spread of Covid-19, the disease caused by coronavirus.
Speaker Kenneth Lusaka on Monday told the Star that a raft of measures he announced last week will be observed, among them allowing only 28 senators to access the chamber.
Others are limiting the session to two hours, ending at 4.30pm, to allow senators and staff to observe the 7pm-5am curfew.
The designated members are required to wear face masks and sanitise their hands before entering the chamber.
They are required to strictly observe social distancing, with each member restricted to their seat throughout the sitting. There will be no consultations.
However, the special session will last three hours, from 2.30pm to 5.30pm as opposed to two hours.
“Because members have to debate the strategies of mitigating the disease and also debate and approve the Bill, we will increase the time to 5.30pm,” Lusaka said.
The speaker had reduced the debating hours to allow members and staff beat the 7pm curfew.
The House will debate the Division of Revenue Bill, 2020 and vote on it. The Bill was introduced and first read last Tuesday after it was approved by the National Assembly.
It splits cash generated nationally between the county and the national governments. In the next financial year, it allocates counties Sh316.5 billion.
The legislators will also receive an update on Covid-19 in the country from an ad hoc committee formed to come up with measures to cushion Kenyans from the economic and health effects of the disease.
The committee, chaired by Nairobi Senator Johnson Sakaja, has drafted its plan of action that will see at least 10 Cabinet Secretaries and several government agencies appear before it to explain the plans they have rolled out to check the virus.
The National Emergency Response Committee on Covid 19 led by Health CS Mutahi Kagwe is expected to appear before the panel this week to explaain the current status of the disease.
The other CSs set to appear before the panel are Fred Matiang’i (Interior), Ukur Yattani (National Treasury), James Macharia (Transport), Joe Mucheru (ICT) and Betty Maina (Industry and Trade).
Also expected are CSs George Magoha (Education), Peter Munya (Agriculture), William Chelugui (Labour and Social Welfare) and Eugene Wamalwa (Devolution).
The Council of Governors, Kenya Medical Practitioners, Pharmacists and Dentists Union and Kenya National Union of Nurses have been invited to give an account of healthcare workers on the frontline.
Edited by Henry Makori
