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{
    "id": 697218,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/697218/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 337,
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    "content": "It is important to note that the Public Appointment (Parliamentary Approval) Act, 2011 came into force on November, 2011 well before the Senate had been operationalized under the Constitution of Kenya 2010. In the course of the implementation of the Act, it was realized that the Act does not provide for the procedure to be followed where the law requires the approval of the candidates by both Houses of Parliament. It is, therefore, to address a lacuna, which particularly became apparent last year during the approval of the nominee for the position of the Inspector-General of Police who under Article 245(2)(a) of the Constitution is required to be appointed by the President with the approval of both Houses. In that particular instance, due to the gap in the law, and taking into account the strict fourteen days timelines as stipulated in the Public Appointments Parliamentary Act, the Speakers of both Houses directed that the vetting of the nominee for appointment to the position of the Inspector-General be conducted jointly by both Houses, in particular, the Departmental Committee on Administration and National Security of the National Assembly and the Standing Committee on National Security and Foreign Relations. This posed a lot of challenge because there were very many Committee Members who sat together for very many days to go through all those procedures. Mr. Temporary Speaker, Sir, you will recall that after several Senators raised concerns about the procedure that had been followed in the vetting of the nominee to the position of Inspector-General, you clarified that the establishment of a joint Committee of the two Houses for vetting of the nominee was an exceptional one taken out of necessity and was not intended to be the general rule or the procedure to be applied for the future. In that case, it was further noted that it was important that the timeliness in the Public Appointments (Parliamentary Approval) Act which was replicated in Section 12 of the National Police Service Act, be scrutinized to ensure the practicality of the timelines in the context of the bicameral Parliament and, therefore, referred the matter to the Standing Committee on Legal Affairs and Human Rights for further interrogation. Mr. Temporary Speaker, Sir, the Public Appointments (Parliamentary Approval) (Amendment) Bill, 2016 is, therefore, intended to cure that. This Bill is therefore intended to cure the challenges I have just highlighted so as to reflect the existing bicameral structure. Mr. Temporary Speaker, Sir, the Bill seeks to introduce amendments to Sections 2, 4, 5, 8, 9 and 13 of The Public Appointment (Parliamentary Approval) Act and Section 12 of The National Police Service Act. You will note that Clause 4 of the Bill sets out the manner in which the notification of the nomination of the position requiring the approval of both Houses should be carried. The provision makes it mandatory for appointing authorities to notify the Speakers of both Houses of Parliament in writing. We have proposed that where a nomination requires the approval of both Houses of Parliament, the process will commence in the National Assembly and end in the Senate. This is in tandem with the role of the Senate the world-over as a House of review which is a second sober thought on matters of national interest. Clause 6 provides the timelines within which a committee of each House shall consider nomination and table its report in the relevant House of Parliament for debate. A committee shall have 14 days from the date of notification of nomination to consider the"
}