Senate rejects proposal ‘limiting’ its power

The Senate has rejected a National Assembly bill that could have helped end perennial supremacy battles between the two chambers.

The Senate’s Justice, Legal Affairs and Human Rights Committee, chaired by Bomet Senator Hillary Sigei, has recommended that the House reject the Houses of Parliament (Bicameral Relations) Bill, 2023.

Several senators argued that the bill is unconstitutional and limits the legislative mandate of the Senate.

“The committee recommends that the Bill be rejected by the Senate at the second reading stage, to pave the way for mediation on the Bill as contemplated under Article 113 of the Constitution,” a report from the committee said.

The bill, sponsored by Ainabkoi MP Samwel Chepkonga, which has undergone the first reading in the Senate, seeks to provide a framework for determining the nature of a bill, defining the bills that do not require a joint resolution by the Speakers.

The proposed law also defines bills that are considered only by the National Assembly, those that do not concern county governments and those concerning county governments. But senators rejected the bill, arguing that it would restrict the legislative and representative mandate of the Senate as provided for in the Constitution.

“The Bill violates the Constitution by derogating from provisions of the Constitution and judicial pronouncements on the procedure for introduction and processing of the legislation in the two Houses of Parliament,” the report reads in part.

Last year, the Supreme Court gave the two Houses 60 days to resolve their conflict in a case filed by the Senate challenging the legality of several billds that were enacted without their input.