President William Ruto has differed with National Treasury and Economic Planning CS Njuguna Ndung’u after he appointed more men than women to the Pending Bills Verification Committee.
Speaking on Tuesday during the launch of the Pending Bills Committee at State House, Nairobi, Ruto said the committee is unconstitutional.
He said that the CS should review the list of the committee by adding more women or reducing the number of men to balance.
"I am not a very good mathematician but being a scientist I know something about math when I looked at the composition of the committee, it was clear to me that it was unconstitutional because it lacked gender balance, there were only four women out of a whole committee of 20," he said,
"I respectfully suggest to the minister, to either reduce the number of men or add the number of women so that it becomes constitution."
The President said that it is time Kenyans and leaders live according to the provisions of the constitution.
The Cabinet in June of this year approved the establishment of a special committee on pending bills.
The Pending Bills Verification Committee is tasked with the auditing of liabilities for the period between 2005 and 2022.
The committee will consist of the Attorney General, the State Department of Roads, the State Department of Public Works, the State Department of Housing and Urban Development and the Public Procurement Regulatory Authority.
Others include the Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission, the Law Society of Kenya, the Institute of Engineers of Kenya and the Institute of Certified Public Accountants of Kenya among others.
The Committee will examine and submit interim reports to the treasury cabinet secretary upon verification which the government will honour the obligation in question.
The move is aimed at establishing the integrity of all bills and cushioning small enterprises against liquidity inadequacies.
