Speaker Lusaka receives BBI report from House joint committee
Senate Speaker Kenneth Lusaka has today received the Building Bridges Initiative (BBI) report from Senator Okong’o Omogeni, co-chairperson of the Senate and National Assembly Legal Affairs Committee.
The Senate Justice and Legal Affairs Committee that worked jointly with its counterpart in the National Assembly concluded the report last Friday.
While receiving the document, Lusaka said he’s consulting with the House leadership and his National Assembly counterpart Justin Muturi on when to convene sitting to debate the report.
“I cannot confirm whether we shall have special sitting because that is a decision that must come from the leadership. What I know is that the Senate is resuming on May 11 from the recess,” the speaker said.
The special sittings for both National Assembly and Senate that were slated for this week to table and discuss the report which was halted following divisions of the joint committee.
The division emerged in both houses after the lawmakers noted that the schedule of the bill detailing how the proposed 70 constituencies would be distributed is illegal.
On Friday-last week, the joint committee confirmed that a record of 32 county assemblies debated a BBI Bill containing errors.
Speaking on Friday after week-long deliberation, the joint committee however downplayed the errors as minor and correctable.
Joint chairs Muturi Kigano (Kangema MP) and Senator Okong’o Omogeni (Nyamira) told journalists that the report is now ready and will be sent to the two speakers.
The leaders said the discrepancies are captured in the report that will be tabled in Parliament.
“We have taken note and that affects 32 County Assemblies and that is captured in our report,” Omogeni said.
“There were no two copies of the Bill. There could be small errors here and there but that is correctable,” added Kigano.
Kigano said all the members of the joint team appended their signatures on the report except Murang’a Senator Irungu Kangata who abstained.
In addition, legal consultants reportedly identified errors during their research that only 13 county assemblies received the right document for consideration.
They counties include Mandera, Meru, Tharaka Nithi, Embu, Nyandarua, Nyeri, Murang’a, Kiambu, Turkana, Elgeyo Marakwet, Laikipia, Nakuru and Siaya.
According to the Constitution, at least 24 county assemblies should approve the draft bill for it to sail to Parliament.
