President William Ruto’s bid to regulate harambees now hangs in the balance after the proposal was met with stiff opposition from senators who called for its total rejection.
The senators were near-unanimous in their disapproval of the Public Fundraising Appeals Bill, 2024, forcing its indefinite deferment last week. The Bill had just begun its life in Parliament with the Senate being the first to consider it.
In July, President Ruto banned all State and public officers from participating in fundraising activities and directed then Attorney-General Justin Muturi to draft a legislation to guide fundraising activities in the country.
Sensing defeat at the Second Reading stage, Senate Majority Leader Aaron Cheruiyot wrote to Speaker Amason Kingi requesting for additional time for consideration of additional views and to give legislators time to reflect and seek more opinions from Kenyans.
The Bill was introduced following Gen Z-led protests over corruption and ostentatious lifestyles of some State officers, often displayed during harambees.
However, a majority of the senators poked holes into the Bill, vowing to shoot it down despite spirited appeals from Mr Cheruiyot and Kakamega Senator Boni Khalwale.
“I request that in accordance with Standing Order No.66 (3), we defer the putting of the question until a later date,” said Mr Cheruiyot.
The Bill seeks to establish a regulatory mechanism at both national and county levels to oversee the conduct of fundraising appeals. It also seeks to regulate the conduct of State and public officers with a view to promoting transparency and accountability.
The proposed law forbids aspirants for political seats from participating in harambees at least three years before a General Election. In addition, it prohibits all State officers and appointed public officers from participating in harambees during their term in office.
“Nobody is stopping fundraisers. They will be allowed. How they are conducted is the question at hand, especially the conduct of State and public officers like you and I, which need to be checked. It is not just us, but anybody aspiring to run for political office,” said Mr Cheruiyot.
However, every senator who took to the floor tore into the Bill, describing it as an attempt to over-legislate harambees, which will only “condemn this generation into poverty”.
Kiambu Senator Karungo Thang’wa said the Bill was supposed to have only two clauses to stop State and public officers from engaging in harambees and dishing out cash publicly to entice people or pull them towards an agenda. However, he said, the proposed law is hell-bent on legislating harambees.
“From the onset, I have tried to understand what this Bill is trying to cure, but I cannot. If this Bill will come the way it is, I will surely not support it. I will oppose it because when you read it, it is curtailing the belief that Kenyans have always had,” he said.
The lawmaker also had issues with the Bill having undue restrictions on charitable activities by requiring them to seek for a permit; keeping records of income and expenditure relating to the appeal as well as capping the administrative cost.
Kirinyaga Senator James Murango said the Bill was going to hit the poor hard. He wondered why there is a push to legislate harambees yet such contributions are voluntary and no one is forced to participate. His Elgeyo-Marakwet counterpart William Kisang said Kenya cannot do without harambees. He argued that the only way he will agree to regulate fundraising is if education is made fully free from nursery to university.
Wajir Senator Abass said the spirit of harambee has been the cornerstone of Kenya with regard to development.
“If anybody wants to stop corruption by stopping harambees, I think that is very wrong,” said Mr Abass. “If you want to stop corruption, let this House bring a Bill that will seriously deal with the corrupt people like in China.”
Nominated Senator Beatrice Ogola said harambee is a voluntary exercise and trying to regulate it is akin to giving a dog a bad name just to kill it.
But Mr Cheruiyot argued that most of the senators opposed to the Bill were misinformed, saying it does not ban harambees but only stops public and State officers from presiding over the same.
“This conversation is about trying to reduce the influence of money in our politics. Let us not pretend. The kind of contributions people make has an influence in the determination of whether to vote for a candidate or not. It may not be the only determinant, but many times, it has been used as a yardstick to gauge your abilities and prowess of marshalling resources and people use it as a determinant,” said Mr Cheruiyot.
