- The speaker enumerated the House’s records but regretted the tough wars with the National Assembly derailed its performance.
- Lusaka said the Senate approved 20 bills on various issues affecting the country and strengthening devolution
Image: /EZEKIEL AMING'A
Speaker Kenneth Lusaka has landed the performance of the outgoing Senate as the House adjourned indefinitely on Thursday.
In a communication to the House, the speaker enumerated the House’s records but regretted the tough wars with the National Assembly derailed its performance.
Lusaka said the Senate approved 20 bills on various issues affecting the country and strengthening devolution.
“In addition, we have also considered 403 Motions, 103 Petitions and 501 Statements touching on various aspects of everyday lives of Kenyans,” Lusaka said.
The speaker held that the senate undertook various inquiries into among others, protecting Kenyan workers in the Middle East and assessment and monitoring of the Covid-19 pandemic situation in Kenya.
The senate, Lusaka said, considered five impeachment motions during its tenure. Three of them were successful.
“The Senate’s ability to conduct itself in a sober and bipartisan manner was put to the test on many occasions whenever it was called upon to mediate on a number of critical issues,” he said.
Impeachment motions against Ferdinand Waititu (Kiambu), Mike Sonko (Nairobi) and Mohamed Abdi (Wajir) were upheld by the House.
However, the house rejected the impeachment of governors Granton Samboja (Taita Taveta) and Anne Waiguru (Kirinyaga).
“One of the key observations from these impeachment processes was that there is a need to standardize the procedure applied in considering a motion of impeachment,” he added.
The Senate also held several meetings with the leadership in the various counties to resolve border disputes between them.
He added that the Senate prides itself on entrenching a democratic and people-centred Parliament.
“Of importance to note are the sittings of the Senate outside Nairobi or Senate Mashinani as it is commonly referred to,” he said.
In September 2018, the Senate held its Plenary and committee meetings in Uasin Gishu County, while in September 2019, the Senate held these meetings in Kitui County.
“During this term, we have also held numerous policy and legislative dialogue sessions with our devolution stakeholders as well as the business community through the annual leadership forums and Speaker’s Round Tables with the private sector,” he said.
The speaker said that the hallmark of the senate’s legislative work has been the consideration and passage of the third basis for revenue allocation among county governments.
The formula saw the allocation to the devolved units increase to Sh370 billion from Sh210 billion in 2013-14.
However, Lusaka said, the House was faced with numerous challenges with the lawmakers forced to stand tall to protect the legislative mandate of the senate.
“This necessitated the Senate going all the way to the Supreme Court in 2013, for an advisory opinion on the role of the Senate in the consideration of the Annual Division of Revenue Bill and other Bills affecting counties,” he said.
Lusaka regretted that the ‘not-so-amiable relations' between the Senate and National Assembly continued to manifest in the 12th Parliament.
This resulted in a resolution for the Senate to institute legal proceedings to challenge the laws that had been enacted unprocedurally in the 12th Parliament.
The House sought an interpretation of the term “money Bill”; and to seek a final determination of the procedure to be followed in respect of all the Bills that were pending before Parliament so as to ensure compliance with Article 110(3) of the Constitution.
“I regret that owing to the interplay between the two Houses, certain key Bills referred to the National Assembly, have not been concluded.”
“I, therefore, urge the next Senate to prioritize expeditious passage of the following Bills, which in my opinion will go a long way to strengthen devolution and governance,” he said.