Parliament makes it easy to change or amend the constitution
Members of the national assembly/ Parliament now have made it easy to change or amend the constitution.
Lawmakers seeking to change the constitution will now be required to get signatures from 50 parliamentarians supporting their bid before introducing the legislation in the House.
An MP who sponsors such a bill will be obliged to submit it to the Speaker for approval along with the signatures of 50 of his or her peers.
The requirement is a part of the Standing Orders amendments adopted by the 12th Parliament and takes effect in this Parliament
However, bills sponsored by either majority or minority party are exempted from this requirement.
In a letter to the House, Moses Wetang’ula, Speaker of the National Assembly, stated that the goal of the action is to enhance House legislation.
Standing Order 114 (7A) states that “in respect of a proposal to amend the constitution, the proposal shall be accompanied by the signatures of at least 50 other members in support unless it is sponsored by the majority or the minority parties.”
“Any member seeking to introduce a legislative proposal seeking to amend the constitution should comply with the requirements of Standing Order 114,” Wetang’ula said
Speaker Wetangula added the requirement of the new Standing Order shall enrich the proposal as it seeks to get consensus through the collection of views of other MPs, the Attorney-General, constitutional commissions, and the Kenya Law Reforms on any proposed amendment to the constitution
He disclosed that since the commencement of the life of the 13th Parliament, he has already received requests from two lawmakers wishing to introduce legislative proposals to amend the constitution.
The proposals are from Gichugu MP Githinji Gichimu and his Matungulu counterpart Stephen Mule.
The two members intend to introduce a legislative proposal to amend the constitution to anchor the National Government Constituency Development Fund (NG-CDF) in law.
The move follows a recent ruling by the Supreme Court that declared CDF unconstitutional.
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