National Assembly and Senate Speakers Pave Way for Leader of the Opposition Office
On Tuesday, March 5, National Assembly Speaker Moses Wetangula and his Senate counterpart Amason Kingi gave the green light for the creation of the Office of the Leader of the Opposition.
This announcement was made by Speaker Amason Kingi, who indicated that the two leaders had agreed on the proposal recommended by the National Dialogue Committee (NADCO) to establish such a post.
As such, the National Assembly’s Departmental Committee on Justice and Legal Affairs Committee (JLAC) was tasked with discussing the Bill before being debated by the whole House.
“At the meetings held on February 27 and February 29, the Speakers of the houses of Parliament and the Leadership of both the Senate and the National Assembly deliberated on modalities for implementation of the recommendations contained in the NADCO report,” Kingi told the Senate.
Kingi noted that there were 8 Bills proposed by the NADCO committee that required constitutional amendments.
The Parliament leadership agreed that four of the Bills would be discussed by JLAC, with the remaining Bills being discussed by the Senate’s Committee on Justice and Legal Affairs and Human Rights.
In addition to discussing the Leader of Opposition Bill, 2024, JLAC will also address the EACC (Amendment) Bill, 2024.
Other Bills proposed by NADCO that will be discussed at the National Assembly include the IEBC (Amendment) Bill, 2024, and the National Government Coordination (Amendment) Bill, 2024.
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On the other hand, the Senate will discuss the Elections Offences (Amendment) Bill, 2024, the Election (Amendment) Bill, 2024, the Statutory Instruments (Amendment) Bill, 2024, and the Political Parties (Amendment) Bill, 2024.
“Article 256 of the Constitution requires that any proposed amendments to the Constitution shall be considered by both houses of Parliament and therefore the proposed amendments now stand referred to the Committee on JLAC,” Kingi stated.
Kingi noted that the Bills were of utmost importance and of public interest and as such, the Committees should expedite the process and submit a report within 45 days.
Kingi and Wetangula issued the directions same time that Azimio la Umoja warned Kenya Kwanza of tampering with the NADCO proposals.
“We retain the view that the report must be implemented as is. It is also our position that the processing of the NADCO report and the bills should be fast-tracked,” Azimio stated.
Once adopted, Azimio will stand a chance of nominating one of its principals as the Leader of the Opposition.
National Assembly and Senate Speakers Pave Way for Leader of the Opposition Office
