Damaged parliament reopens: Crucial Bills, public anger and protests await MPs
A police tape for crime scene outside Parliament Building after it was raided by rioters on June 25, 2024.
Members of Parliament are scheduled to resume House sittings this Tuesday, July 23, after a short break— on the same day planners of anti-government protests have vowed to shut down Nairobi.
The lawmakers who are resuming business amid growing calls for the dissolution of Parliament for alleged loss of voters’ confidence are expected to vet the 11 Cabinet secretaries who were nominated by President William Ruto on Friday.
The nominees’ list is one of the grievances of the anti-government demonstrators who want all the ministers who were fired in the previous Cabinet dropped.
Those who are set to bounce back if cleared are Prof Kithure Kindiki (Interior), Ms Alice Wahome (Lands, Public Works, Urban Development and Housing), Mr Aden Duale (Defence ), Mr Davis Chirchir (Roads), Ms Soipan Tuya (Environment) and Ms Rebecca Miano who has been nominated for Attorney-General post.
The legislator’s to-do list for the second part of the third session also includes consideration of the Division Revenue (Amendment) Bill, 2024, the County Allocation of Revenue Bill, 2024 and the approval of the selection panel for the recruitment of commissioners for Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC).
They will also discuss Supplementary Budget Estimates 1 for the Financial Year 2024/2025 and the report of the Finance Committee on the rejected Finance Bill, 2024.
Also in the schedule are the three related pieces of legislation on health— Primary Healthcare Act, 2023, Digital Health Act, 2023 and the Social Health Insurance Act, 2023.
This is after the High Court gave orders suspending the laws and gave Parliament 120 days to amend unconstitutional areas in them.
The action-packed calendar of the House will also see the lawmakers consider the nominee for appointment as Director-General for Health Patrick Amoth, who will be vetted by the joint committee of health from both the National Assembly and the Senate.
The team is expected to conclude the process by mid-August.
The lawmakers are resuming sittings to a damaged Parliament by the protesters who stormed and desecrated the hallowed House after MPs approved the now withdrawn Finance Bill 2024, with reports indicating that properties worth Sh350 million were destroyed.
The most affected areas were the leadership offices, the security and perimeter fence, catering facilities and information system, members’ lounges and staff offices.
“There has been good progress with the repairs, and the space in the main Parliament Buildings will be fairly ready as the House resumes its sittings,” said a source in parliament.
On the consideration of the report of the Finance Committee on the memorandum of the rejection of the Finance Bill, the House will seek to delete all the clauses to reflect the president’s reservations.
To defeat the president’s recommendations, the National Assembly will be required to garner a vote of two-thirds of the Members of the Assembly— 233 members.
The MPs will also consider the Division of Revenue (Amendment) Bill, 2024 which seeks to amend the Act to actualise the proposed expenditure cuts by reducing the respective allocations to the national government and county governments for the 2024/2025 Financial Year.
The ct which provides for sharing of revenue raised nationally between the national government and county governments for the Financial Year 2024/25 in accordance with Articles 202, 203, and 218 of the Constitution was signed into law earlier in the year.
The Act had allocated Sh2.5 trillion for the financing of the expenditure of the national government and Sh400 billion as an equitable share of revenue to counties.
However, due to the financing gap created by the rejection of the Finance Bill, the allocations to be made to the national government and county governments are proposed to be reduced to bridge the financing gap.
The House will also consider the County Allocation of Revenue Bill, 2024 which provides for the division of the equitable share of revenue among 47 counties.
Despite the bill having been passed by both Houses and presented for assent in June 2024, it was returned to the Senate by President Ruto for reconsideration in light of the rejection of the Finance Bill, 2024.
Having passed the IEBC (Amendment) Bill and assented to by the President, the 14 days provision in the Act for the various nominating bodies to forward the names of their nominees who shall serve in the Selection Panel for recruitment of IEBC Commissioners is elapsing on Monday, July 22.
The President is to appoint the Selection Panel within seven days of receipt of the names.
Upon conclusion of the recruitment process, the President shall be expected to present the names of the IEBC nominees to the National Assembly for approval.
The House will also be racing against time to comply with the court order to align the three health Acts with the constitution by amending sections 26(5), 27(4) and 38 of the Social Health Insurance Act which were unconstitutional by the High Court on July 12.
The Court also made orders that should Parliament fail to re-enact the three Acts within 120 days, then they will be rendered invalid, null and void.
Eyes will also be on the budget committee as it tabled its report on the consideration of the supplementary estimates for the Financial Year 2024/25 submitted by the National Treasury, budget cuts have been proposed across the government entities.
The committee which is facing a tough balancing act on the cuts after various agencies expressed fears that they risk facing legal actions if some of the cuts are endorsed by the House is expected to table its report on or before Wednesday.
