Parliament behind schedule in passing constitutional Bills

Parliament will have to sit extra hours on Wednesday and Thursday to deliberate on the Bills which must be enacted into law on August 27.

The House sits on Tuesdays and Thursdays afternoon and the whole day Wednesday.

Commission on Implementation of the Constitution (CIC) chairman Charles Nyachae has vowed to move to court to sue the cabinet for also expunging provisions calling for declaration of wealth by public officers to be made public.

The public, opposed to the Bill as amended by the cabinet had until Monday to submit written memorandum for consideration by the Constitutional Oversight Implementation Committee (COIC) chaired by Mohamed Abdikadir.

Parliament will set extra hours this week as MPs rush to pass five constitutional Bills whose deadline expires next Monday.

Parliament will have to sit extra hours on Wednesday and Thursday to deliberate on the Bills which must be enacted into law on August 27.

The House sits on Tuesdays and Thursdays afternoon and the whole day Wednesday.

Already, questions, which normally take up the larger portion of parliamentary time, have been reduced to three on Wednesday to create more time for the Bills.

Business Committee (HBC) is scheduled to meet this evening to set business for the week.

It is expected that that the Bills will take precedence over other business.

Wednesday morning is reserved for MPs private Bills and Motions.

MPs are expected to conclude debate on the Leadership and Integrity Bill 2012 whose discussion was interrupted last Thursday for lack of quorum.

The lawmakers are also expected to start debate on the National Intelligence Service Bill, the National Security Service Bill, the Kenya Defence Forces Bill and the Petitions to Parliament (Procedure) Bill.

In the past MPs have had to sit up to midnight to scrutinize the proposed legislations and beat the strict deadlines.

They have also had special sittings on Friday to transact pending Bills.

The Bills are critical to the implementation of the constitution with security laws expected to reform the security apparatus to deal with increased threats brought about by Al Qaeda linked Somalia Al-Shabaab.

The Leadership and Integrity Bill is the most controversial after the Cabinet removed provisions for vetting candidates seeking public offices in the next general election.

Commission on Implementation of the Constitution (CIC) chairman Charles Nyachae has vowed to move to court to sue the cabinet for also expunging provisions calling for declaration of wealth by public officers to be made public.

The public, opposed to the Bill as amended by the cabinet had until Monday to submit written memorandum for consideration by the Constitutional Oversight Implementation Committee (COIC) chaired by Mohamed Abdikadir.