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{
"id": 1523420,
"url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/1523420/?format=api",
"text_counter": 366,
"type": "speech",
"speaker_name": "Tharaka, UDA",
"speaker_title": "Hon. George Murugara",
"speaker": null,
"content": "(d) The Political Parties Amendment Bill 2024. Hon. Temporary Speaker, with the exception of the legislative proposal on the Leader of Opposition Bill 2024 and the National Government Coordination Amendment Bill 2024, all the other proposals have been published. Some have been passed and others are at an advanced stage of consideration by the two Houses. The two remaining Bills are yet to be published because they require a constitutional amendment. Therefore, until that amendment is effected, the other two proposed Bills cannot be considered. Furthermore, while the framework for realisation of the two-thirds gender principle in Parliament was one of the issues that the National Dialogue Committee had been tasked to address, in its Report, it recommended that the Multi-Sectoral Working Group (MSWG) finalises its work and recommends to Parliament a framework for the implementation of the two-thirds gender principle. As it is very well known, the two-thirds gender rule is one of the thorny issues in this House. It has never been agreed on. Subsequently, in Annexure 5 of the Joint Report, on the 27th of February 2024, the Speaker of the National Assembly notified the House that he was in receipt of the Report of the Multi-Sectoral Working Group on the realisation of the two-thirds gender principle, which is Annexure 6, recommending amendments to the Constitution, the Elections Act and Political Parties Act through the following proposals: 1. The proposed Constitution of Kenya Amendment Bill 2024; 2. The proposed Elections Amendment Bill 2024; and, 3. The proposed Political Parties Amendment Bill 2024. On 14th March 2024, an addendum to the Report of the MSWG on the realisation of the two-thirds gender principle, which is Annexure 7 of the Joint Report, was submitted to Parliament. The Report contained a revised draft of the Constitution of Kenya Amendment Bill 2024, and that is Annexure 8. To this end, the Committee held joint sittings on 7th and 16th April 2024 to consider the NADCO Report. However, due to the conflicting schedules of the two Houses, the Committees were unable to finalise the consideration of the NADCO Report within the initial 45 days. Consequently, as the Chairperson of the Departmental Committee on Justice and Legal Affairs, I requested the Rt. Hon. Speaker of the National Assembly to extend time for consideration of the NADCO Report by another 45 days, and to authorise the National Assembly Departmental Committee on Justice and Legal Affairs to consider the Report independent of the Senate Committee. This request was granted and the National Assembly Committee held sittings on 19th and 24th September 2024, where they deliberated on the NADCO Report, and considered the proposed Constitution Amendment Bills by NADCO and by the MSWG, and tabled its Report in the House on the 9th of October 2024. Similarly, the Senate Standing Committee on Justice, Legal Affairs and Human Rights considered the NADCO Report and the MSWG Report, but did not table its report to pave way for harmonisation of the recommendations of the two Committees on the implementation of the two reports. Hon. Temporary Speaker, consequently, the two Committees reconvened on 2nd December 2024 to deliberate on and harmonise their recommendations on the actualisation of the proposals contained in the NADCO and the MSWG reports. Thereafter, the Committees adopted their Joint Report on 4th December 2024. In undertaking the assignment, the Committees took note of the Report of the Multi-Sectoral Working Group on the realisation of the two-thirds gender rule, observed that the Report of the draft Constitution of Kenya Amendment Bill proposed by the same group should be read and considered as part of the NADCO Report. That recommendation is actually in our Report. This was on the basis that the realisation of the two-thirds gender principle was one of the areas that NADCO was mandated to address. NADCO deferred the consideration of the matter to allow the MSWG to The electronic version of the Official Hansard Report is for information purposesonly. A certified version of this Report can be obtained from the Hansard Editor."
}