A joint Parliamentary committee has
rejected the proposal by the National
Dialogue Committee to extend the
term of senators to seven years.
In a report tabled in the Senate and
the National Assembly, the Justice
and Legal Affairs Committee said
the move would be unconstitutional.
“Altering the term and date of
election of members of the Senate
would require a complete overhaul
of the constitution,” the report states.
The joint panel was co-chaired
by Bomet Senator Hillary Sigei and
Tharaka MP George Murugara.
The reports have been tabled in the
two Houses for consideration.
Nadco recommended radical
amendments to the constitution to
increase the term of the Senate from
the current five to seven years.
Specifically, the proposed
amendments to Articles 101 and
102 on the election of members
of Parliament and the term of
Parliament, respectively, to include
the term of the Senate.
This implies that the country
would hold a general election every
five years for President, Members of
the National Assemblies, Members
of county assemblies and governors
and hold Senate elections every seven
years.
The committee said this would be
an expensive undertaking for the
economy to sustain.
“The committee observed that
conducting two general elections
would further escalate the cost of
elections, noting that the cost of
elections in Kenya was already among
the highest in the world,” the report states.
Additionally, Nadco did not
provide sufficient justification for
the proposal to increase the term of
the Senate.
“Implementation of the proposal
would create significant legal,
practical and legal administration,”
the panel said.
They argued that the constitution
envisaged one general election, as
stipulated in Articles 90 (3), 98 (2)
and 136 (2).
The Articles provide for the
allocation of political party list
seats, the election of Senators
representing the youth and persons
with disabilities and the election of
the President, respectively .
“The committee further observed
that the proposal touched on the
sovereignty of the people and
would thus need to be subjected to
a referendum, in accordance with
Articles 255 and 256 (5) of the
constitution.”
President William Ruto and
opposition leader Raila Odinga
formed the dialogue committee
following the post-election street
protests by the opposition in 2023.
The violent demonstrations had
rocked several parts of the country
for weeks, hitting the economy, which
was recovering from the elections.
Nadco was co-chaired by Wiper
leader Kalonzo Musyoka and
National Assembly Majority leader
Kimani Ichung’wa.
Besides extending the term of
the Senate, Nadco proposed the
establishment of the office of official
opposition, creation of the office of
the Prime Minister and anchoring the
constitution of several funds.
Nadco wants the PM nominated
and appointed by the President upon
approval by the National Assembly.
They include the Senate Oversight
Fund, National Government Constituency Development Fund and
National Government Affirmative
Action Fund.
However, the Nadco report has
been lying in the Senate for several
months.
