• At least three senators have written to the speaker, recommending a raft of amendments to remove sections which they said are inconsistent with the Constitution.
• Senators Enoch Wambua (Kitui), Irungu Kang'ata (Muranga) and Samson Cherargei (Nandi) sought the Speaker’s nod to tweak the document.
Image: EZEKIEL AMING'A
The decision on whether senators can introduce amendments to the Constitution of Kenya (Amendment) Bill, 2020, will be known next week.
Speaker Kenneth Lusaka on Thursday said he will give a determination before the legislators take a final vote on the bill next week.
“At second stage, there are no amendments that have been proposed. I will make a ruling when the bill gets to Committee of the Whole House. I am not a speaker by chance. I will give a researched and detailed ruling,” he said.
Lusaka made the pronouncement even as the House pushed forward the vote that had been planned for Thursday.
The bill was expected to proceed to third stage where the senators would have voted to determine the fate of the bill sponsored by the Building Bridges Initiative.
This was occasioned by many requests by senators to contribute to the debate on the bill after the disruption of debate on Thursday to consider the impeachment of Wajir Governor Mohammed Abdi.
A section of senators has been pushing to introduce amendments to the bill to realign it with the Constitution.
At least three senators have written to the speaker, recommending a raft of amendments to remove sections they said are inconsistent with the Constitution.
Senators Enoch Wambua (Kitui), Irungu Kang'ata (Muranga) and Samson Cherargei (Nandi) sought the speaker’s nod to tweak the document.
Wambua proposed five amendments, among them scrapping of the proposed creation of additional 70 constituencies.
“The role of IEBC, which is a constitutional body, can’t be usurped by a task force. Parliament must protect our constitutional institutions to entrench democracy,” Wambua told the Star.
The legislator also seeks to delete new Article 203(n) on the county revenue allocation arguing the proposed formula will slash allocations to some counties.
“Counties will lose their annual allocations once passed. It is in contravention of Article 217 of the Constitution,” the letter reads.
In addition, Wambua wants proposed amendments to Article 245 and 246 on the Public Service Commission and the office of the Inspector General of Police.
On Thursday, Wambua sought to know from the Speaker the fate of the letter.
“I have tabled five amendments. I request that you give a reasoned ruling on each if the proposed amendment to know where we stand on this issue,” Wambua said.
Nairobi Senator Johnson Sakaja (Nairobi), Mutula Kilonzo Jr (Makueni) and Moses Wetang'ula (Bungoma) supported Wambua's call for a ruling from the Speaker.
“I know you have deferred many rulings, this one you will not defer. This one, you have to rule," Mutula said.
A similar push to change the bill was thwarted in the National Assembly after Speaker Justin Muturi ruled against amending the document saying the bill is a product of a popular initiative.
He said any amendment shall negate the will of the people in directly amending the Constitution.
Muturi said alterations to the text of such a bill may only be allowed to correct errors of form or typographical errors before submission for assent.
He further held that no one can stand in the way of the people’s desire to amend the Constitution as ascribed in Article 1 of the supreme law.
“No state organ or person to whom power is delegated by the people under Article 1 of the Constitution can stand in the way of the exercise of the people’s sovereign power to chart the course of their future in any manner they deem fit within the provisions of the Constitution,” Muturi ruled.
Edited by Henry Makori