MPs will this morning hold a Kamukunji (informal meeting) to build consensus for the approval of a nine-month extension to the August 27 deadline for passage of six bills on implementation of the Constitution.
A Motion to approve an extension must be supported by 233 MPs (two-thirds of the 349 members). If the extension is not secured and the House fails to enact the Bills by August 27, it will invite the intervention of the Judiciary and should Parliament fail to meet the court-stipulated deadlines then the Chief Justice is required by the Constitution to dissolve Parliament.
The other agenda for MPs who will meet in the debating chambers in Parliament buildings is to iron out administrative issues.
The legislative deadline, perceptions of partisanship among presiding members of the Speakers' Panel, poor condition of some of the buildings which House the MPs' offices are top of the agenda, The Standard can reveal.
Deputy Speaker Joyce Laboso, Majority Leader Aden Duale, and Majority Whip Katoo ole Metito asked MPs to show up for the meeting at which they will discuss a host of issues that have been troubling the lawmakers.
The main agenda that MPs are willing to share with the public is the fact that there are six Bills that must be approved before Wednesday next week – the fourth anniversary of the Constitution. The chairman of the Constitutional Implementation Oversight Committee in the National Assembly Njoroge Baiya has filed a Motion seeking a nine-month extension of the deadline. The Motion is likely to be debated tomorrow afternoon.
The Bills are: Public Services Bill, Persons Deprived of Liberty Bill and the Environment Management and Coordination (amendment) Bill. These three have already been published and introduced in the House for debate.
The other Bills to implement article 47 of the Constitution on fair administrative action, article 50 on fair hearing, and those to do with accounts and audits of public entities and changes to the procurement laws have not been published. And MPs have blamed the office of the Attorney General and the Commission for the Implementation of the Constitution for the delay.
Wednesday's meeting is informal, meaning MPs can speak freely about their grievances without the full glare of the Media. It is a lobbying session to get the MPs to show up in the afternoon to approve the extension.
"This is a special Motion, so members should take it very seriously. We know what it means for our country and the Constitution. We know we will need to apply the two-thirds rule to be able to pass the Motion," said Ms Laboso.
The lawmakers will also use the meeting to establish why their mileage claims and committee allowances have delayed. Some MPs also plan to use the meeting to complain about frequent internal transfers of key staff from committees. Some committees are using the frequent transfers of committee clerks to justify failure to perform.
There will also be queries about the efficiency of the House Business Committee (HBC) with regard to crucial investigatory reports whose debate has been delayed. One such report is the one prepared by the Public Accounts Committee on the hiring of the luxury jet that Deputy President William Ruto used in May last year to tour four countries in West Africa.
That issue was raised in the House last week, and the Majority Whip Katoo ole Metito asked MPs to come to the kamukunji and strike a deal that the House Business Committee should henceforth expedite business on a first-in, first-out basis.
"The business in the HBC is not decided by the Majority Leader. It's a collective decision of the majority and minority sides," said Metito.
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