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"id": 598729,
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"content": "could be introduced at any time as long as there were 15 Senators present in the Senate as required under Article 121 of the Constitution. Further, that voting on a Memorandum could take place as long as 15 Senators were present. Sen. Keter, Sen. Murkomen, Sen. (Dr.) Khalwale, Sen. Wamatangi, Sen. (Dr.) Machage, Sen. Mutula Kilonzo Jnr., Sen. Hassan, Sen. Mugo and Sen. Elachi also contributed to this matter. Hon. Senators, you will recall that at the sitting of the Senate held on Wednesday, 1st October, 2015, I made a communication on the procedure for the disposal of a Presidential Memorandum focusing on the options available to the Senate under Article 115 of the Constitution. This matter was, therefore, put to rest. The matter now requiring my direction is the question of the number of Senators required to be present in the Senate before a vote can be taken on a Presidential Memorandum. The numbers of 15, 24 and 32 featured prominently in the contributions by Hon. Senators who spoke to this matter. Hon. Senators, allow me to commence by stating that the Senate has, indeed, by practice, on a number of occasions deferred the taking of a vote until 24 County Delegations can be realized. This is because of the unique voting threshold of the Senate as set out under Article 123(4)(c) of the Constitution. Under that Article, a matter that is subjected to a vote in the Senate is carried only if it is supported by a majority of all the county delegations; which is 24 County Delegations. The practice that has developed of requiring 24 County Delegations to be present before a vote is taken has developed overtime so as to ensure that legislative business that would, otherwise, pass but for the presence of 24 County Delegations, is not, to the detriment of the Senate and the sponsor of the business, defeated only on account of the absence of the 24 County Delegations required to pass it. Hon. Senators, it is important to observe that this practice is not anchored in the Constitution or the Standing Orders, but rather it has developed as a necessary practice and usage of the Senate, one that will most, probably, out-live the Senate of the Eleventh Parliament and become settled practice. However, this practice cannot be taken to have set aside the provisions of Article 121 of the Constitution which expressly sets the quorum required for the transaction of any business of the Senate at 15 Senators. This is to be distinguished from the number of Senators or county delegations required to pass various Bills and Motions. At that point, there must be a determination whether the Motion is a matter affecting counties for all the Bills require the same threshold. Consequently, barring the existence of what the Senate Majority Leader referred to as a “gentleman’s agreement” to require the presence of 24 County Delegations before taking a vote, the law does not require the presence of 24 or for that matter 32 County Delegations before a vote is taken. Article 121 of the Constitution requires the presence of fifteen Senators, irrespective of their county delegations to be present for the transaction of any business in the Senate, including the taking of a vote. Such a vote would only be postponed where Standing Order 54(3) is invoked. Provides that:- The electronic version of the Senate Hansard Report is for information purposes only. A certified version of this Report can be obtained from the Hansard Editor, Senate."
}