The National Assembly approved 18 bills during the second session
The National Assembly had processed a total of 18 Bills by the time the House went on a long recess last week.
In a statement on Saturday, the house said the 18th which has since been assented into law by President William Ruto forms part of the 114 Bills that are at various stages of consideration.
“Among the Bills approved by the House are crucial legislations relating to Climate Change, reforms in the health sector, and government financing of priority projects,” they said.
They said the Finance Bill (National Assembly Bill No. 14 of 2023) approved in June 2023, provided the revenue-raising measures by the government.
This they said was to facilitate the budget estimates for the financial year 2023/2024.
“This passage of this legislation paved the way for the introduction of a housing levy to fund the Affordable Housing initiative by the Government, and also increased the fuel levy to boost the fund ringfenced for fuel price stabilization,” the National Assembly said.
The Appropriation Bill, 2023, and two Supplementary Appropriation Bills were also passed in June and November respectively.
This was aimed at providing funding for the government or reallocating funds to emergency efforts due to extreme drought and flooding incidents within the year.
“In what perhaps demonstrates that Climate Change and its effects are now becoming a priority agenda for legislatures, the National Assembly approved the Climate Change (Amendment) Bill which sought to amend the Climate Change Act, 2016 to provide for the regulation of carbon markets” they noted.
It also created and enhanced the mandate of several institutions responsible for the regulation of the carbon markets.
The enactment of the law now makes Kenya compliant with the Paris Agreement which Kenya ratified and became party to in 2016.
The house noted that the amended National Government-Constituencies Development Fund (NG-CDF) Act expanded the mandate of the fund to cater to projects such as climate mitigation.
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This they said placed Kenyan legislators at the centre of climate change mitigation efforts.
“The amended Act allocates a maximum of 5 percent of the funds allocated per constituency to climate change mitigation activities including afforestation, reforestation, grassroots sensitization, and tree seedling production,” the National Assembly noted.
The Act is also set to cater to other social benefits such as school feeding programs, particularly in drought-stricken areas where students drop out of school in search of food and water.
They noted the enactment of four health Sector Bills, two of which originated in the National Assembly as a notable development in the second session
The Bills were said to be aimed at revolutionizing the healthcare sector.
“Firstly, the House considered and approved the Digital Health Bill (National Assembly Bill No. 57 of 2023) which provided for the establishment of the Digital Health Agency, framework for the provision of digital health services and to establish a comprehensive integrated digital health information system,” they said.
The second health Bill was the Social Health Insurance Bill (National Assembly Bill No. 58 of 2023).
It established a legislative framework to regulate the provision of social health insurance, promote the implementation of Universal Health Coverage, and ensure that all Kenyans have access to affordable and comprehensive quality health services.
The Bill further repealed the National Health Insurance Fund Act (No. 9 of 1998).
“Three public Funds were established under the Act, namely the Primary Healthcare Fund, the Social Health Insurance Fund, and the Emergency, Chronic, and Critical Illness Fund, for funding of healthcare services,” the national assembly said.
The National Assembly approved 18 bills during the second session
