• Members of Parliament were on Monday notified of the scheduled sittings.
• MPs will debate the Bill through all the stages.
Image: FILE
The National Assembly will hold special sittings on Wednesday and Thursday to debate among others the Constitution of Kenya (Amendment) Bill, 2020.
Speaker Justin Muturi on Monday notified Members of Parliament of the scheduled sittings.
MPs will debate the Constitution of Kenya Amendment Bill 2020 through all the stages – second reading, Committee of the Whole House, and third reading.
The bill would require at least half of the members sitting for purposes of a vote to accept or reject the amendments during the second and third reading.
Arrangements were being made to facilitate MPs to travel to the capital to take part in the vote on the second and third readings of the bill.
“A Bill under this Article (257 of the Constitution of Kenya) is passed by Parliament if supported by a majority of the members of each House,” the law states.
Being a bill under a popular initiative, the President is to request the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission to conduct a referendum within 90 days.
If supported by a majority of those who take part in the vote, the IEBC has to notify the President within 30 days for assent and publication.
The country can thus hold a referendum by end of July, though legal hurdles remain in the face of the court ruling stopping the IEBC from conducting a referendum on the bill.
MPs will also consider Senate amendments to the Division of Revenue Bill, 2021, and either adopt the same or take the bill through mediation.
The House will also receive a report of the Education committee on vetting of nominees for chairperson and member of the Teachers Service Commission.
A report of the vetting of Prof Fatuma Chege as the Implementation of Curriculum Reforms Principal Secretary will also be tabled.
Members will also consider a petition filed by the Kenya Editors Guild for the removal of Tabitha Mutemi from membership of the Media Council of Kenya.
Even as members plan the deliberations, the bill has been tossed in the wind of uncertainty and confusion amid claims of varied versions.
A blame game has ensued between the promoters and the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission over errors spotted in the draft bill by the promoters.
A joint committee that reviewed the bill recommended that the House approves the bill as drafted by the promoters.