Senate cautions President Uhuru Kenyatta over Bill

President Uhuru Kenyatta has been drawn into the supremacy battles between Senate and National Assembly.

Yesterday, the Senate threatened to go to court if the President signed into law the contentious Mining Bill, 2014. The National Assembly passed the Bill, which senators say does not reflect their views.

The Senate also threatened to move to the Supreme Court to challenge the constitutionality of over 30 laws passed by the National Assembly without the input of the Senate.

Speaker Ekwee Ethuro, Majority Leader Kithure Kindiki and Minority Leader Moses Wetangula led senators in declaring they had lost their patience and that they would not allow anyone to undermine their mandate.

"The House has resolved to move to court to challenge all the laws that have been enacted without regard to the Constitution. If devolution has to work in this country, the Senate must be allowed to work properly," said Ethuro.

The senators declared their intention to maintain legislative relevance, arguing that their continued silence had been construed to mean they were inefficient.

The legislators, who were speaking yesterday during a workshop on "Place of the Senate in driving the devolution agenda for Kenya" at the Serena Beach Resort in Mombasa were united in sending a strong message to the President and the other arms of government and warned that “it will no longer be business as usual”.

Ethuro said both National Assembly and Senate should be given their rightful space to perform their mandates.

Prof Kindiki (Tharaka/Nithi) alleged that Senate was under attack from other institutions, including the National Executive.

“We highlighted this issue last year when we moved to court to seek an advisory on the Division of Revenue Bill, 2013, however, even with the court’s opinion, it has not helped matters. We must now move to court for a comprehensive opinion on the matter,” said Senator Kindiki.

He continued: “We are going back to the court in two week’s time to get a comprehensive ruling, which encompasses all the challenges affecting the co-function of the Senate.”

Kindiki faulted President Kenyatta for signing into law bills, without the involvement of the Senate.

“The President is breaking the law, because he is acting unconstitutionally. We give him two weeks to return the Mining Bill failure to which, we will challenge the legality of the Bill in court. This is a crucial Bill in counties.

Kindiki accused the National Assembly of plagiarising bills introduced in the senate, which they allegedly pass and present to the President for assent as their own.

“We are giving the executive two weeks to return that (Mining) bill to the Senate. There are over 30 pieces of legislation, which have been enacted, which are inconsistent with the Constitution.

He alleged that the Natural Resources (Benefit Sharing ) Bill, 2014 sponsored by Senator Agnes Zani (Nominated) and the Flags and Emblems Bill, sponsored by Senator Boni Khalwale (Kakamega) had  been plagiarised.

“The members of National Assembly have shamelessly introduced the bills in the national assembly, hurriedly passed them and purportedly sent to them to President for assent,” said Kindiki.

protect devolution

Wetangula (Bungoma) said the Senate and National Assembly had been involved in persistent rivalries over Article 110 (3) of the Constitution which requires that there be concurrence between the two speakers on whether a Bill affects counties before being introduced in either House.

Senate has been accusing the National Assembly of ignoring its input when processing bills that affect counties.

“We are going to act without fear or favour when dealing with any individual of institution. No one can wish away the Senate. Devolution is here to stay and the Senate is composed of a galaxy of brains, and they will nurture it to succeed,” said Wetangula.

He continued: "We stand on the side of the people and will fight tooth and nail to protect devolution.”

The senators also censured the Judiciary over injunctions allegedly barring them from preforming their mandates, which includes impeaching and summoning governors to respond to audit queries.

Kindiki also took a swap at the Judiciary, accusing it of treating the Senate as a parastatal.

“The Judiciary should not imagine that they can supervise us as if we are a parastatal. The Senate is not a parastatal, they can injunct our procurement procedures or even recruitment departments but injunct our co-mandate,” said Senate Kindiki.

Further, Wetangula said Senate meant well for the counties. “We want governors to see allies in Senate not adversaries, our committee will be impartial. See us as your allies and protectors. But we shall also act without fear,” he said.

Otieno Kajwang (Homa Bay) urged his colleagues to move to court and seek advisory on all matters affecting the execution of the co-function of Senate.