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"content": "objections at large on their journal, and proceed to reconsider it. If after such reconsideration two thirds of that House shall agree to pass the Bill, it shall be sent, together with the objections, to the other House, by which it shall likewise be reconsidered, and if approved by two-thirds of that House, it shall become a Law.” Hon. Members, the United States experience is such that the veto power does not give the President the power to amend or alter the content of legislation, but rather the ability to accept or reject a Bill passed by Congress. The President returns the unsigned Bill to the originating House of Congress within a 10-day period, usually with a memorandum of disapproval or a “veto message.” In this case, the Congress can override a veto by passing the Bill by a two-thirds vote in both the House and the Senate. It is argued that this legislative override prevents the President from blocking a Bill when significant support for it exists. By practice, it can be observed that the two-third requirement is a high standard to meet and, therefore, broad support for Bill is needed to reach that threshold. Therefore, the President’s veto power in the legislative process is significant since the Congress rarely overrides vetoes. Indeed, statistics show that as at May 2015, out of 2,566 vetoes by various presidents of the USA, the Congress has only managed to override 110 of them. Hon. Members, a study of yet another comparable legislative jurisdiction, which is that of the Philippines, offers a similar scenario with regard to presidential assent to Bills. Section 27 of Article VI of the 1987 Philippines Constitution provides as follows: “Every Bill passed by the Congress shall, before it becomes a law, be presented to the President. If he approves the same, he shall sign it; otherwise, he shall veto it and return the same with his objections to the House where it originated, which shall enter the objections at large in its journal and proceed to reconsider it. If, after such reconsideration, two-thirds of all the Members of such House shall agree to pass the Bill, it shall be sent, together with the objections, to the other House by which it shall likewise be reconsidered, and if approved by two-thirds of all the Members of that House, it shall become a law.” Further, in Philippines, the President is empowered to veto any particular item or items in an appropriation, revenue, or tariff Bill, but the veto does not affect the item or items to which he does not object. Hon. Members, an important observation in the practices in the United States of America and Philippines is that the President only expresses reservations to a Bill and there is no constitutional requirement for the President to give specific recommendations on a Bill. Further, the power to veto the legislature is expressed in the same terms as it exists in Article 115 of our Constitution. The President’s participation in the law-making process can, therefore, be said to be a constitutional dispensation both in the United States and in the Philippines. The legislature, however, has the final say in both jurisdictions just as is the case in the Kenyan situation. Hon. Members, the situation is, however, slightly different in India and South Africa where their constitutions bear greater semblance to the Kenyan context. For instance, in India, assent to Bills is governed by Article 111 of their Constitution which provides as follows: “When a Bill has been passed by the Houses of Parliament, it shall be presented to the President, and the President shall declare either that he assents to the Bill, or that he withholds assent therefrom: Provided that the President may, as 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."
}