Sittings begin on a high note after MPs disagree on the Kandara MP Alice Wahome amendment.
The National Assembly special sitting has started on a high note after calls by Tangatanga-allied MPs for a revisit of the events of the last sitting of debate on the Political Parties (Amendment) Bill, 2021 which was marred by chaos.
Garissa Township MP Aden Duale rose on a point of order on where the debate on the bill should begin insisting that a clause was not completely amended.
He argued that the Order Paper has not included amendments to Clause 7 of the Political Parties (Amendment) Bill, 2021 yet it was not dealt with conclusively.
Duale was supported by his Tharaka counterpart Gitonga Murugara who alleged a violation of the House procedures in the adjournment that followed the vote on the clause.
The amendments were moved by MP Wahome who sought to remove the provisions regarding the regulation of party slogans and names.
Speaker Justin Muturi ruled that an amendment cannot be introduced after a vote has been taken unless done within the voting time.
“There was still time. The chair went on to put the global question 25 minutes to midnight. The speaker of the session was right,” Muturi said.
He told off members for attempting to contradict the facts that informed the decision of the speaker in the amendments that were lost in the vote.
“Procedurally, if that amendment had been carried, those with amendments should have risen at that time. None of them did that and the global question was put and the vote was taken,” Muturi said.
“Records of the House show that the business on Clause 7 was concluded. The net result was that Clause 7 is part of the bill,” he added.
Muturi said the speaker cannot at this point open the bill for the amendments.
“If you have amendments, you can apply to recommit the amendments as per the House processes.”
He spoke after JLAC vice-chairman and Ruaraka MP Tom Kajwang’ brought the attention of the House to the events that characterized the vote.
“They broke the bar and left during the division. They cannot introduce the amendments at this point,” Kajwang’ said.
Edited by D Tarus
