Senators Mutula Kilonzo Junior( Makueni) and Johnson Sakaja( Nairobi) are seeking to end the National Assembly’s ‘bullying nature’ through the Determination of the Nature of Bills (Procedure) Bill, 2018
In particular, the Bill seeks to clip the wings of National Assembly Speaker Justin Muturi, who has failed to honour the law on concurrence by ignoring the Senate input since 2013.
It will also tame the overzealous members of the National Assembly, “who have “killed” a number of proposed legislation originating from the Senate in the pretense of being money Bills, which is exclusively under their mandate”.
The Bill, in its second reading, identifies a number of salient areas that will enable a seamless operation and end the sibling rivalry.
Mr Sakaja, while appearing yesterday before the Justice and Legal Affairs committee of the Senate to defend the Bill, said the bicameral Parliament had been behaving in unnecessary competitive manner whenever it came to processing legislation.
He warned that this had undermined the quality of the laws passed in the country.
“The effect of individual speakers’ relationships cannot be relied on to determine the legislative work of both Houses. We must institutionalise law-making and create an avenue on how to determine the transaction of laws,” said Sakaja.
The committee heard that the law on Money Bills, which is always “dangled like a carrot” by the National Assembly to dismiss Senate Bill was read selectively.
Sakaja and Kilonzo Jnr now seek to provide a framework for determining the nature of Bills and procedures of whether a Bill concerns counties in line with the Constitution.