Members of the National Assembly are in a rush to conclude pending business as their tenure comes to an end.
The Members of Parliament (MPs) want to conclude pending business before they break today ahead of the August 9 General Election.
However, lawmakers on two occasions have altered the Order Paper to extend timelines and have scheduled a sitting this morning to conclude pending business.
In addition, they have also reduced debating time on some bills to enable them to transact as much business as possible before they conclude their sittings.
Back in April, soon after parliament resumed its sittings, Speaker Justin Muturi appealed to MPs to attend house sittings in order to conclude critical business within the statutory timelines.
The House leadership also prioritised the Huduma Bill 2021, Universities (Amendment) Bill 2021, Disaster Management Bill 2021, Persons with Disabilities Bill 2021 and the Public Finance Management Bill 2022.
For the parliamentarians to achieve their set targets, they have reduced the publication period of some bills, including the Supplementary Appropriation Bill.
The Supplementary bill seeks to regularise the Sh70 billion spent by the State including the Sh260 million spent on State burial for retired President Mwai Kibaki.
They have also agreed with the House Business Committee to only consider private members’ bills which do not affect county governments.
The Huduma Bill is scheduled to come up for the Third Reading once Muturi rules on the constitutionality of the bill after Garissa Town MP Aden Duale raised questions regarding its constitutionality.
Already, civil societies and non-governmental organisations (NGOs) have also opposed the bill citing the same issues of its constitutionality.
The groups protested during the public participation hearings that the proposed law would further alienate communities instead of bringing them together.