The Star has established that a meeting called by Speakers Moses Wetang'ula of the National Assembly and his Senate counterpart Amason Kingi on Tuesday ended in a stalemate.
The meeting convened to chart a strategy for implementing the Nadco report adjourned in disarray following disagreements.
Another crisis meeting has been called this morning to iron out the contentious issues said to be threatening the implementation of the report.
Sources privy to the ‘heated deliberations’ intimated to the Star that the bone of contention is whether MPs could amend the Bills drafted to implement the report.
The Nadco team that was led by former Vice President Kalonzo Musyoka and National Assembly Majority leader Kimani Ichung’wah had proposed nine key Bills, including a constitutional amendment, to actualise recommendations.
Two factions have since emerged, with one pushing that MPs be allowed to amend the Bills and another saying the report and its associated Bills be passed as adopted.
The National Assembly and Senate passed the Nadco report without amendments, setting the stage for the implementation of the Bills.
Raila’s faction wants the Bills passed without any changes.
However, Ruto's troops want MPs to be given a free hand to propose amendments.
Wetang'ula and Kingi are reportedly in agreement that MPs are free to amend the Bills.
Sources at the meeting said some of Nadco team members were 'surprised' at the tone of the leaders who have maintained that the Bills be opened for amendments.
It is understood that those for the amendments hold that the process in Parliament cannot be cast in stone as proposed by the Raila side.
While Raila troops pushed for a referendum, those for further changes hold that some of the Bills don’t drastically change the Constitution and thus can be established by statute.
The Star established that Raila’s troops were apprehensive about an alleged plot to water down the Nadco work and possibly sabotage the process.
Some of the opposition coalition’s top guns expressed fears of an attempt by middle-level Kenya Kwanza honchos to derail the process.
They cite the ‘surprising rapprochement’ between President Ruto and Azimio leader Raila Odinga as causing ripples in some quarters keen on maintaining the status quo.
While they feel that President Ruto may not want to interfere with the process, the lot says those keen on tinkering with the Bill believe Raila would not raise an issue.
The grand question is who is throwing the spanner in the works in the face of the latest upheavals.
Ichung’wah and his Minority counterpart Opiyo Wandayi were in the meeting.
Key technical parliamentary staff also attended.
Azimio, when they addressed the press after the report was unveiled, was categorical that the Nadco-backed Bills have to be adopted as proposed ‘without a comma’.
For the Raila troops, “if anyone insists that there must be changes, that would be the collapse of Nadco and the committee will have to go back to the principals.”
House leaders from the majority and minority sides declined to comment on the standoff when contacted by the Star.
During the debate to adopt the report, Speaker Wetang'ula was confronted by members on whether they could make changes to the report.
Top of the concerns, especially by women lawmakers, was that the report did not adequately address the two-thirds gender rule.
But the Speaker said there would be room for changes, sparking grumbles among some of the Nadco proponents.
“If you drafted Bills, then pass them on to the clerks. Yours are mere drafts. The clerks will have to put them in a manner acceptable in Parliament. Let us see how we will move from there,” the speaker said.
Wetang'ula held that the Bills were open for review to accommodate the emerging concerns of the various political players.
“We are going to reach out to the other legislative proposals out of the Nadco report, including some possible constitutional amendments, bringing fresh Bills and policy changes where necessary, so that we can actualise what is in the Nadco report,” he told MPs during the debate on the proposals.
Among the pieces proposed by the Nadco team is the Constitution of Kenya (Amendment), Bill, 2023, which if passed would radically change the structure of government.
The Bill proposes the office of Prime Minister, Leader of Opposition, Senate Oversight Fund, National Government Affirmative Action Fund and National Government-Constituency Development Fund and extends the term of Senate from the current five or seven years.
Nadco also recommended changes to the IEBC Act to increase the number of members of the polls commission to nine from the current seven.
The IEBC (Amendment) Bill provides that the decision of the commission shall either be by a unanimous decision or by a majority of the commissioners.
Other legislative pieces are the Elections (Amendment) Bill, 2023, the Elections Offences (Amendment), Bill, 2023 and the Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission (Amendment) Bill, 2023.
The Leader of Opposition Bill, 2023, has also been fronted as part of the draft legislations to be sponsored by Ichung’wah and Wandayi.
Others are the Statutory Instruments (Amendments) Bill, of 2023, Political Parties (Amendment) Bill, of 2023 and the National Government Coordination (Amendment) Bill, 2023.
