Should Parliament extend working hours to meet deadlines for six pending constitutional Bills?

Parliament resumes today after an early recall from the Christmas recess. However, due to the pending six crucial Bills whose deadline is February 26, Justice and Constitutional Affairs Minister Mutula Kilonzo is of the view that the House sits for five days a week (Monday to Friday. Writer Vitalis Kimutai spoke to assistant ministers Kabando wa Kabando (Youth and Sports) and Magerer Langat (Energy) on the issue

YES (Kabando wa Kabando)

QUESTION: Do you support Minister Mutula Kilonzo’s views that Parliament sits on Mondays and Fridays to beat the February 26 deadline for six crucial Bills?

ANSWER: Yes. I agree with the Justice minister that the parliamentary sessions should be extended, even if upto Saturday, so that we can conclude all the pending matters in time. All efforts aimed at fast-tracking the constitutional implementation process should be embraced by all.

QUESTION: Mutula says it’s not possible to pass six Bills in six days going by normal parliamentary sittings. What is your view?

ANSWER: We do not want a rushed process just to meet deadlines. We should comprehensively address the Bills, and produce the best for posterity. Whatever we come up with should serve several generations to come to avoid often amendments.

QUESTION: Some MPs argue the Executive should have petitioned House Speaker to recall Parliament earlier. Comment

ANSWER: Kenyans must know the Executive is too pre-occupied with issues relating to the next General Election and many key issues risk being clouded by the election agenda. At the same time, it’s good to note some of us in the Executive had petitioned the Speaker, through a parliamentary lobby, to recall Parliament earlier.

QUESTION: Who, in your view, is to blame for the last minute rush in meeting deadlines for crucial constitutional implementation Bills?

ANSWER: Blame game won’t help. As leaders we should do what we have to do now to move the process forward. Blame game would only sent the process in a further limbo, not unlock it.

QUESTION: In August, last year, Parliament enacted 12 Bills in a single week, some of which had errors. Do you foresee a similar situation as the House battles to enact the six Bills?

ANSWER: Undoubtedly, the Tenth Parliament has done what no other parliament, except the First and Second did soon after independence. I don’t foresee a recurrence of the mistakes in Bill as we will ensure all loopholes are sealed. We have learnt our lessons and it is clear MPs will interrogate the pending documents seriously.

QUESTION: Should the Parliament be given more time if it fails to beat the law implementation schedules?

ANSWER: If we must, so be it. Let’s give the best for Kenya, a week or two of better rehearsals would not spoil the menu. It’s better we have the best ‘diet’ for solid constitutionalism to shine and endure.

QUESTION: Do you think the implementation process is on right track?

ANSWER: We are doing relatively well, but this being an election year, we can falter if we are not careful.

QUESTION: What are likely to be the key challenges for the pending business?

ANSWER: The process will, definitely, be punctuated by intrigues including conspiracies by people with selfish interests and conniving by conservative forces, but we should give the country our all.

NO (Magerer Langat)

QUESTION: Do you support Minister Mutula Kilonzo’s views that Parliament sits on Mondays and Fridays to beat the February 26 deadline for six crucial Bills?

ANSWER: No. In the first place, there are no pending Bills already in the Parliament. The Executive hasn’t tabled the Bills yet. I find the proposal immature and has failed the set standard procedures to follow in doing that.

QUESTION: Mutula says it’s not possible to pass six Bills in six days going by normal parliamentary sittings. What is your view?

ANSWER: I disagree with him. It is very possible. We can agree to reduce the time for debate in the House so that we deal with Bills once tabled. MPs have never had problems shelving normal business to deal with issues of national importance.

QUESTION: Some MPs argue the Executive should have petitioned House Speaker to recall Parliament earlier. Comment

ANSWER: Perhaps, the Executive, in its wisdom, did not see the need to recall Parliament earlier as there was no urgent business to deal with at the time.But had we been recalled as MPs, we would happily have put aside any other business at the constituency to handle the parliamentary business.

QUESTION: Who, in your view, is to blame for the last minute rush in meeting deadlines for crucial constitutional implementation Bills?

ANSWER: The Executive. All the time Bills have been rushed to the House when we have had all the time to deal with them ahead of the deadlines. The line ministries have been slow or reluctant in fast-tracking the process. There are people in Government who still believe in the old political order.

QUESTION: In August, last year, Parliament enacted 12 Bills in a single week, some of which had errors. Do you foresee a similar situation as the House battles to enact the six Bills?

ANSWER: Errors can still occur even if we have one Bill to deal with. It is not about the bulk of the Bills as we have previously discovered even with few Bills errors have occurred. My honest opinion is that we only need to be thorough with the process of scrutinising them to minimise errors.

QUESTION: Should the Parliament be given more time if it fails to beat the law implementation schedules?

ANSWER: The Constitution in its transitional clauses envisages such a situation and gives Parliament the opportunity to extend its life for six months to deal with implementation process.It’s not going to be much of an issue as the guidelines are clearly set in law.

QUESTION: Do you think the implementation process is on right track?

ANSWER: Yes, but we need to hasten the process to reduce workload as we approach the elections. There are, of course, some people out to scuttle the process but I can assure we shall fight them and move forward.

QUESTION: What are likely to be the key challenges for the pending business?

ANSWER: The interested groups out to forestall the implementation process, but we shall overcome.