• Four attempts to pass the bill did not yield any positive outcomes.
• Chief Justice David Maraga in late 2017 received two petitions urging him to act on the matter
Parliament is staring at dissolution following its ‘embarrassing’ failure to implement the two-thirds gender bill.
National Assembly Speaker Justin Muturi warned of a looming crisis should the courts uphold calls by litigants for the dissolution of Parliament.
Muturi, in a call for urgent action, on Tuesday asked the House leadership to speed up the legislation to avert the crisis.
The Speaker said it was regrettable that the bill has taken an inordinately long time in Parliament without much headway.
The matter is before Chief Justice David Maraga, who stands to spell the end of the current Parliament should he advise President Uhuru Kenyatta to dissolve it.
“In the event the Chief Justice advises the President to dissolve Parliament, we may be staring at the end of term and this would be an ignominy,” Muturi warned.
“The House leadership, both the Majority and the Minority, must now ensure we resolve this issue with finality," Muturi said during the National Assembly’s third leadership retreat in Nairobi.
Five attempts to pass the bill did not yield any positive outcomes after the House failed to muster a quorum of 233 of 349 members.
In 2012, the Supreme Court gave Parliament until August 27, 2015 to enact the legislation to implement Article 27 (8) and 81 (b).
The High Court in March 2017 ruled that Parliament had failed its constitutional obligation to enact the legislation on the gender principle.
It gave the House 60 days to implement the law and further ordered that should Parliament fail, any person could petition the Chief Justice to advise the President on dissolution.
Maraga in late 2017 received two petitions urging him to act on the matter, putting the country on the edge of a constitutional crisis should he heed the prayers.
Leader of Minority John Mbadi, however, played down the alarm, saying the House is not under threat of dissolution considering the timing.
He said they are confident that the Representation of Special Interest Groups Laws (Amendment) Bill, 2019 passed by the National Assembly will help the situation once the Senate concurs.
Mbadi said trouble has been that the Constitution is not clear on how Parliament should implement the two-thirds rule.
He exuded confidence that the matter would be addressed in the constitutional changes proposed in the Building Bridges Initiative.
“The Constitution drafters should have explicitly provided a law on how to implement the two thirds. Leaving it to Parliament is ambiguous,” he said.
“Who can dissolve Parliament two years to an election? It can't happen...take this to BBI to provide clear provision in COK to ensure this principle is realised.”
His Majority counterpart Amos Kimunya said, “The Special Interest Groups Bill seeks to implement Article 100, which expressly requires Parliament to enact legislation to promote the representation of, among other marginalised groups, women. The bill is now pending in the Senate.”
“It is possible for the President to dissolve Parliament. Remember the Chief Justice has a few days in office. He can decide to act and they create the constitutional crisis,” Rarieda MP Otiende Amollo, a lawyer who was in the team that midwifed the 2010 Constitution, said.
The House leadership also wants the Kangema MP Muturi Kigano-led Justice and Legal Affairs committee to fast track laws that would improve the management of elections in the country.
Muturi said there was need for laws setting timelines for the county assemblies to handle referendum bills — in anticipation of the BBI — and also laws guiding the procurement of election materials.
“The BBI can end in a referendum and we need to prepare ourselves. For instance, we need to define how long it requires an assembly to communicate its position on a referendum bill,” he said.
On constitutional implementation, Parliament raised concerns on legislations touching on Chapter 15 - Commissions and Independent Offices.
“Should the legislative proposals brought to the House by these commissions come through the Office of the Attorney General? Does this mean that they are not independent as envisaged?” he asked.
The meeting also explored the place of Parliament should there be a challenge of revenue shortfalls leading to salary cuts or pay delays in the public service.
Edited by EKibii