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{
    "id": 572885,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/572885/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 61,
    "type": "other",
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    "content": "Hon. Members, having said that, you will recall that the House recently considered the President’s reservations and recommendations on the Public Procurement and Asset Disposal Bill, 2015 and the Public Audit Bill, 2014. To the extent that the House has made a decision on the President’s reservations to these two Bills, I do not intend to permit the House to re-open debate or revisit those decisions. It is for this reason that the membership of the National Assembly in the Joint Committee formed at the request of the Senate is required to convey to that Committee and uphold that decision of the House. I also remind the membership of the National Assembly in that Joint Committee that the Committee’s period of consideration of the two items referred to it is not limitless, especially recalling that the two laws initially ought to have been passed by 27th August, 2015. I will now focus on the second subject, which is the procedure for consideration of presidential reservations. In seeking to answer the question raised by Hon. Gumbo as to whether a reservation or recommendation by the President should be subjected to a process similar to that obtaining in the consideration of a Bill, one needs to be fully alive to the express provisions of the Constitution. Firstly, the sequence of Part 4 of Chapter Eight of the Constitution of Kenya, which sets out the procedures for enacting legislation, is such that Article 115 of the Constitution appears after the sequence of events contemplated in Article 109 (Exercise of legislative powers), Article 110 (Bills concerning county governments), Article 111 (Special Bills concerning county governments), Article 112 (Ordinary Bills concerning county governments), Article 113 (Mediation Committees) and Article 114 (Money Bills). Indeed, that is why Article 115 on Presidential Assent and Referral is sequentially arranged to come before Article 116 which deals with coming into force of laws. Secondly, the provisions of Article 115 seem to be self contained as regards the procedures to be adopted by Parliament in considering the President’s reservations. To this extent, the provisions of Article 115(3) and (4) do not contemplate Parliament going back to the entire process of enactment, but only contemplates Parliament passing the Bill a second time. This second passage does not in any way negate the fact that the Bill was passed by the House a first time after going through the entire sequence that culminates in passage, namely publication, First Reading, Second Reading and Third Reading. The resubmission of a Bill by the President under Article 115 does not in any way negate these stages, unless the President decides to submit a totally new Bill outside the scope of what the House has passed, which would be uncharacteristic of the conventional legislative limits. Thirdly, we must not lose sight of the fact that in whatever form the President expresses a reservation, he is seeking essentially an amendment to the Bill in question. He is merely seeking to avail himself of an opportunity similar to that enjoyed by the Members of this House, namely to participate in the law-making process as expressly contemplated by Article 115 of the Constitution. You are all aware that when Members are proposing amendments during the Committee Stage, those amendments are only considered during that stage, and are not subjected to other processes that a Bill goes through prior to that stage. Reservations or recommendations by the President should, therefore, not be treated differently and should only be considered at the Committee stage. This is, indeed, the practice in many comparable legislative jurisdictions within and outside the Commonwealth. 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."
}