Senators move to end supremacy battles
Majority of the bills brought to Parliament will soon originate from the Senate to end the supremacy battle between the Senate and National Assembly.
Article 110 (3) of the Constitution stipulates that before any bill is considered by either House, the speakers of both Houses must first agree whether such bill concerns counties or not.
The Article states that before either House considers a Bill, the Speakers of the National Assembly and Senate shall jointly resolve any question as to whether it is a Bill concerning counties and, if it is, whether it is a special or an ordinary Bill.
Senate Majority Leader Aaron Cheruiyot (Kericho) pointed out that the Senate, through the House Business Committee, had approved its conditions for the consent which have been handed to Speaker Amason Kingi to negotiate with his National Assembly counterpart Moses Wetangula.
“We are at an advanced stage of the conversation on these issues. We really want to end this issue of sibling rivalry. I think we are almost agreeing. If this happens, we will see most of the bills coming to the Senate,” said Cheruiyot.
According to Cheruiyot, the cause of disagreement in the past has been which bills should originate or terminate at the Senate with no concurrence.
“If it concerns the counties, the process begins at the National Assembly and ends in the Senate or vice versa meaning it is considered by both Houses. However, the National Assembly has always insisted that it is only bills concerning counties that should pass through the Senate,” said Cheruiyot.
Speaking during a Senate induction workshop on legislative business in Mombasa yesterday, the Kericho lawmaker and a close ally of President William Ruto said that the Head of State has opined that he would like the two houses to work in harmony.
