NAIROBI, Kenya Jan 4-Members of Parliament are yet again expected to flex muscles in the National Assembly during the three-day special sitting set to start Wednesday to debate the Political Parties Amendment Bill of 2021.
Majority Leader in the National Assembly Amos Kimunya who is the sponsor of the Bill says he has marshaled enough members to ensure that the amendments are dispensed with, and the Bill forwarded to the Senate for concurrence.
“I am confident that we will amend laws without acrimony witnessed previously. Some MPs have even written to indicate that they will drop their amendments. This essentially means that we will just deal with the Bill within two days or so,” Kimunya said.
He said that they are pushing to have the Bill ready for assent by President Uhuru Kenyatta by the end of January despite the filibustering witnessed in the last two special sittings last week.
“It’s important to have this bill passed by both houses this month so that in February political aspirants and political parties have a know-how on the procedure they should follow. The essence of dispensing it quickly is so that political parties have ample time to understand and implement it,” stated Kimunya.
Majority Whip in the National Assembly Emmanuel Wangwe cautioned MPs against engaging in acrimony while debating the Political Parties Bill insisting that they are set to impede any such moves.
“Whatever tactics Tangatanga will apply, we are ready for them, and we will counter any games that they are ready to play. Our focus is to prosecute the bill to its logical conclusion during the three-day special sitting. We want to pursue the bill to the third reading,” said Wangwe.
On the other end, MPs loyal to Deputy President William Ruto have promised to ensure that their amendments in the Political Parties bill sail through, insisting that they have numbers to carry the day.
Belgut MP Nelson Koech and his Kimilili counterpart Didmus Barasa however, noted that there is need for sobriety even as MPs agree to disagree on contentious clauses.
“What numbers are they talking about? William Ruto commands more than 140 MPs and we must counter-check every proposal in the bill to ensure we have a good bill that will serve the interest of Kenyans. “We will drag as long as it takes to ensure we have good laws that will serve the interest of Kenyans,” said Koech.
Didmus said, “Lighting cannot strike a tree twice, we have a super plan to ensure we push through our amendments. We know our opponent will marshal slightly above 150 MPs, we have marshaled 160 MPs or thereabout.”
Should the bill sail through in both houses which is the main target by the handshake team of President Uhuru Kenyatta and Opposition leader Raila Odinga, MPs allied to Ruto have threatened to move to court to hinder its implementation in the August election.
