In a letter inviting President Uhuru Kenyatta to the unveiling of the revamped Bill, Party Leader Ekuru Aukot disclosed that the second phase of the Bill would be based on the responses the initial version of the proposal received when it was discussed in various counties/FILE/CFM – MOSES MUOKI
NAIROBI, Kenya, Feb 17 – Thirdway Alliance Party was Monday set to launch a revamped Punguza Mizigo constitutional amendment Bill, months after a similar initiative failed to win the approval of county assemblies as required in law.
Only Uasin Gishu and Turkana counties approved the Bill, falling short of the required 24 county assemblies.
In a letter inviting President Uhuru Kenyatta to the unveiling of the revamped Bill, Party Leader Ekuru Aukot disclosed that the second phase of the Bill would be based on the responses the initial version of the proposal received when it was discussed in various counties.
The proponents of the Bill which made it through the signature validation stage with the support of 1.2 million registered voters said it would reduce the burden of the blotted legislative assemblies in the country, proposing the reduction of lawmakers in the National Assembly from 349 to 147.
The Bill also sought to reduce the number of national lawmakers in a bid to address the ballooning wage bill.
Thirdway had also proposed a 7-year single-term presidency.
The Bill was however dismissed by politicians pushing for a constitutional amendment under the Building Bridges Initiative who termed it as a move to divert attention from the review processed championed by President Uhuru Kenyatta and former Prime Minister Raila Odinga.
It was also challenged in court where an order restraining county assemblies from considering the Bill was issued following an application by a petitioner.
Timothy Odhiambo had argued the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) failed to authenticate signatures of voters supporting the referendum bid.
He accused the IEBC of contravening Article 257 of the Constitution by failing to authenticate the signatures of 1,222,541 registered voters who supported the initiative.
“The admitted failure to authenticate the signatures of the purported supporters of the initiative amounts to a fundamental breach of the Constitution,” Odhiambo stated.
“There is a real and imminent risk that IEBC may submit an unlawful Bill to the County Assemblies within the next three months for consideration,” the petitioner argued at the time.
