MPs forge common front to support dialogue report

Members of National Assembly and Senators forged a common front on the report that was debated concurrently in the two houses.

Majority Leaders Kimani Ichung’wah (National Assembly) and Aaron Cheruiyot (Senate) led the debate with a rallying call to their troops to back the report that ended weeks of post-election tension in the country.

While moving the motion, Ichung’wah put a case for the report saying its endorsement by Parliament will cure post-election skirmishes and fix problem at the IEBC which has been at the centre of political controversy after elections.

“This report culminated from a long process, National Dialogue Committee (NADCO) considered all the five issues that we agreed on,” the Kikuyu MP said.

“We have made pieces of legislation that will ensure reconstitution of IEBC panel and the commission, as it stands now, the panel has no timeline. They can take forever.”

“I plead with all of us to adopt this report; the spirit of NADCO is that spirit of dialogue and that is the desire of every Kenya that never again shall Kenya engage in violence but we will be able to dialogue with each other in an amicable manner,” Ichung'wah said.

Seconding the report, National Assembly Minority Opiyo Wandayi said the NADCO report was more of give-and-take and will provide cure to the persistent problem of election management in the country.

The Ugunja MP also cautioned against any amendments to the document which he noted should be approved as it is.

“Some of the take-away in the report is the roadmap towards reconstitution of IEBC, and the governance around the political parties and audit,” Wandayi said.

“In this part of the world, the matter of elections is life and death. The body charged with responsibility of conducting elections must enjoy the wider majority of the people and wider majority of the players.”

“Never again should the country go back to where it was, never again should we have a situation where IEBC would be split down the middle in critical moment of announcing the results of the elections,” he said.

In the Senate, Cheruiyot said the report was a product of bipartisan engagement and urged the lawmakers from both sides of the political divide to back it for prosperity of the country.

He said reports recommends practical ways of reconstituting the IEBC, auditing of the 2022 general election among other key issues affecting the country.

“The report recommends that IEBC shall within three months of its reconstitution develop internal guidelines delineating the administrative and policy responsibilities of the chairperson and commissioners and institutional guidelines on administrative and policy functions,” Cheruiyot said.

The Kericho Senator told the House that the report seeks to have the IEBC review its operations after every election and make the necessary changes required to make its operations more efficient, effective, transparent and accountable.

Cheruiyot said on the high cost of living, the report recommends that the government should rationalise its expenditure for the next three years.

“The report recommends that the Multi-Sectoral Working Group on the realisation of the two-thirds gender principle under the Ministry of Public Service, Gender and Affirmative Action should finalise its work, and recommend a framework of implementation of two-thirds gender principle and submit its report to Parliament for consideration,” he said.

Nyamira Senator Okong’o Omogeni while seconding the motion called on the senators to support the report saying it contains various recommendations that need to be adopted to advance the economic and political stability of the country.

Omogeni for instance delved into selection of the IEBC saying NADCO has proposed capping the duration within which the commissioners must be appointed.

“The committee recommends the period of appointing of the commissioners from advertising the vacancies, shortlisting, interviews and appointment to be reduced to 90 days,” Omogeni said.

This even as he championed for the cases arising out of political parties nomination be conducted by a different body other than the electoral commission.

The Nyamira lawmaker while supporting the adoption of the report said the electoral body should remain with its core mandate of conducting elections and not listening to issues arising out of nominations.

“As a committee, we have proposed in this report that IEBC should not handle nominations appeals. We have given it to another body to handle the matter so that the agency remains with its core mandate of conducting the elections,” he said.

Omogeni who was also a member of NADCO, rallied his colleagues in the House to support the report saying they recommended that the National Treasury should conduct a comprehensive review on the reduction of various taxes.

In the report, the committee has recommended the reduction of the Roads Maintenance Fund Levy from the current Sh18 to Sh13 and to reduce Value Added Tax  on fuel from the current 16 per cent to 8 per cent.

Nominated Senator Gloria Orwoba differed with her colleagues saying the report has not addressed the issues of women.

According to Orwoba, the report has failed to fully state the exact steps on what should be done to implement the two thirds gender rule.

“I have read the report but I cannot read anything about women. I cannot support a report that does not support women. For it to make sense, it should state the steps that should be taken to implement the two thirds gender rule,” Orwoba said.

Kitui Senator Enoch Wambua in supporting the NADCO report, said the burden of implementing two thirds gender rule lies in the hands of the current regime.

“President Ruto promised the women a 50-50 per cent positions in his administration. The women senators from Kenya Kwanza should be here telling us why they did not implement what they signed on the charter with the women,” Wambua said.

In addition, Wambua argued that although he supports the report, the committee only scratched the surface on the cost of living.

“The cost of living was top on the agenda. All other discussion were secondary. There is near consensus that the cash transfers be enhanced so that those who qualify should get more than Sh2,000. I challenge the administration to walk the talk,” Wambua said.

Makueni Senator Daniel Maanzo said approving the report will unlock the constitutional crisis that the country faces with regards to delimitation of electoral boundaries.

“Boundary review is a crucial matter that should be given the attention that it deserves,” the senator said.

Maanzo said the report proposes ways of lowering the cost of living.

Nominated Senator Tabitha Mutinda said the reconstitution of IEBC was important to allow the people of Banisa constituency and other electoral areas that don’t have representatives to be able to have them so their interests well catered for.