- If the mediation committee fails to agree on a version of the Bill within 30 days, the Bill is defeated.
- The Bill also introduces a four per cent Sugar Development Levy on both domestic and imported sugar.
Image: FILE
The long-anticipated mediation between the MPs and Senators on the contentious Sugar Bill is now ready to begin after the two Houses submitted names of members to sit in the committee.
The formation of the panel comes after the National Assembly rejected some of the amendments by the Senators to the bill.
Navakholo MP Emmanuel Wangwe who sponsored the bill will co-chair the committee.
Those submitted from the Senate are James Murango (Kirinyaga), Richard Onyonka (Kisii), David Wafula (Bungoma), Catherine Mumma (nominated), Samson Cherarkey (Nandi), Agnes Muthama (Machakos) and Esther Okenyuri (nominated).
The bill is co-sponsored by the Bungoma Senator.
"Honourable Members, now that the Senate has appointed Members to the Mediation Committee, the Committee is fully constituted and should embark on attempting to develop a mediated version of the Bill in accordance with the provisions of Article 113 of the Constitution," the National Assembly speaker said Tuesday.
The Bill seeks to reinstate the Sugar Act which was repealed through the enactment of the Crops Act, 2013.
The enactment of the Bill shall restore the roles of the Kenya Sugar Board currently undertaken by the Sugar Directorate of the Agriculture and Food Authority established under the Agriculture and Food Authority Act, 2013.
The Bill further provides for the development, regulation and promotion of the sugar industry, to provide for the establishment, powers and functions of the Kenya Sugar Board.
During the public participation conducted by the Senate Committee on Agriculture chaired by Murango, stakeholders who submitted views expressed strong support for the bill.
Sugarcane farmers from Kisumu County have supported the restoration of the Kenya Sugar Board and recommended that the headquarters should be established within Nyanza or the Western region to regulate the sector directly instead of operating through the Agriculture and Food Authority.
Stakeholders in the sugar sector said the Sugar Directorate under the AFA Act 2013 lacked the autonomy to address challenges in the sugar industry.
The Bill also introduces a four per cent Sugar Development Levy on both domestic and imported sugar.
While discussing it last year, MPs amended the original Bill by allocating 10 per cent of the money collected from the levy to Kenya Rural Roads Authority (KeRRA).
All bills save for those involving money must pass through either House for concurrence.
A Bill that is passed by the Senate must be submitted to the National Assembly.
A certified copy of the Bill is forwarded to the Clerk of the National Assembly together with a Message signed by the Speaker requesting concurrence of the Assembly.
If the National Assembly agrees with the Bill and does not propose any amendments, the Senate forwards the Bill to the President for assent.
If it proposes amendments to the Bill, the amendments are submitted to the Senate and are circulated to the Senators.
The amendments are then considered in the Committee of the Whole.
The Senate may then pass the Bill by including all the amendments or may reject any or all the amendments.
Where an amendment is rejected, the Bill is referred to a mediation committee.
There are three other bills currently from the National Assembly and two from the Senate currently at the mediation stage.
They are the National Rating Bill, Water Amendment Bill, and Conflict of Interest Bill.
Those from the Senate are the Employment Amendment Bill and the National Resources (benefit sharing) bill.
The mediation committee has 30 days to develop the mediated version of the Bill. The thirty days start counting from the day the committee holds its first sitting.
If the mediation committee fails to agree on a version of the Bill within 30 days, the Bill is defeated.
Upon development of an agreed version of the Bill, the Mediation Committee tables in both Houses a Report on its consideration of the Bill and the mediated version of the Bill thereof for consideration by both Houses.