A joint parliamentary committee on the BBI bill will today hold crucial talks to unlock a standoff triggered by differences on whether or not to edit the document.
Details have emerged that senators and Members of the National Assembly are split right in the middle over the push to have the documents reviewed further.
The differences might lead to senators and members of the National Assembly writing two different reports. This is likely to throw the bicameral House into a state of confusion.
Nyamira Senator Okong’o Omogeni, who co-chairs the joint Justice and Legal Affairs committee alongside Kangema MP Muturi Kigano, said the panel will meet.
“The committee will be meeting from Monday to handle pending matters and agreeing on how to proceed with other issues,” he said.
The Star has learnt that experts – Prof Patricia Mbote and Dr Collins Odote – could have advised against any plans to have the Constitution of Kenya (Amendment) Bill 2020 reviewed.
Experts were to guide the committee on at least six thematic areas, including advising lawmakers on the nature of the bill, public participation, the processing, substantive issues, the referendum and the status of litigation.
The legal team is, however, said to have recommended that the distribution of the proposed 70 constituencies be abandoned and the job handed to the electoral commission.
The constituencies issue is said to have precipitated a deadlock, with senators agreeing with legal experts while their National Assembly counterparts are opposed to the move.
The legal team is today expected to brief the committee on its findings before the Secretariat retreats to write the final report.
The report(s) will then be submitted to Parliament either at a special sitting or when it convenes on May 4.
As the joint committee convenes for crunch talks, it has emerged that the highly anticipated special sitting of Parliament for the BBI report will not happen this week.
There were indications that the bicameral House was to resume this week to consider the report of the joint committee on the amendment bill, popularly known as the BBI bill.
On Sunday, Kigano reiterated that he was not aware of a special sitting this week.