When President Uhuru Kenyatta signed the Division of Revenue Bill into law, the Senate was furious and threatened to move to the Supreme Court for respite. This rings a lot of bells.
One is that for the first time, the three arms of government are almost at war, akin to a dog chasing its tail. The Legislature is hopelessly divided regardless of party affiliation as the National Assembly MPs and senators engage in the greatest turf war — that of whose ego is greater?
The Executive has a deadline to keep ahead of today’s Budget Speech reading and could not afford the luxury of accommodating the Senate’s wish and returning the Division of Revenue Bill to the yet-to-be formed Arbitration committee for resolution. Also, there is a Sh48 billion hole in the Budget Estimates that needs plugging. On the balance of things, President Kenyatta appended his signature.
Now the Senate wants the Judiciary to step in with some Solomonic wisdom.
And Senators are also approaching the division through another route: Seeking a million signatures from voters so that the constitutionality of the President’s rebuff is re-examined.
Stalemate? Checkmate? We cannot tell.
But what does the Constitution say about whether the National Assembly alone has sufficient mandate to determine allocation of revenue between the two levels of government.?
Do Senators have a role to input a word edgeways since this, and any other Bill that affects counties? It, therefore boils down to the drama that broke out in the National Assembly amid heckling and name-calling: What are the roles of the two Houses of representation? Why are there grey areas that allow such acrimony to squeeze through the cracks? And what is the Executive expected to do when such bipartisanship threatens to choke Government business? Of course there was precedent when the President intervened last week and summoned the Speaker and Leaders of Majority and most likely admonished them for leaving his Jubilee agenda to dry as MPs agitated for a fatter paycheque.
Of course there is the provision for an Arbitration Committee made up of equal numbers of Senators and MPs that is supposed to iron out such matters, but that is a moot point now as the MPs have forwarded the Bill to the President and got the outcome they so desired.
Even then, how is the Senate expected to get its way anyway if even the Budget, all Bills and even the decision of the Arbitration Committee and results of a referendum are supposed to be brought first before the MPs? In the case under review, the Constitution is clear that Parliament had used up the 30 days it was allowed within which to debate and resolve matters appertaining with the Division of Revenue Bill from the date it was tabled before the House.
And since some money covered in the Bill is already being spent, the President bit the bullet and stopped further scrutiny by the National Assembly and the Senate. Senate Majority Leader Kithure Kindiki, and Senators James Orengo and Moses Wetangula are well within their rights to appeal to the Supreme Court.
They are senior members of the Bar and would know better whether President Kenyatta violated the very supreme law he swore to defend and implement in letter and spirit for the greater good of the public.
