BBI joint team to begin crunch talks today to unlock standoff

 

A joint parliamentary committee on the BBI bill will today hold crucial talks to unlock a standoff triggered by differences on whether or not to edit the document.

Details have emerged that senators and Members of the National Assembly are split right in the middle over the push to have the documents reviewed further.

The differences might lead to senators and members of the National Assembly writing two different reports. This is likely to throw the bicameral House into a state of confusion.

Nyamira Senator Okong'o Omogeni, who co-chairs the joint Justice and Legal Affairs committee alongside Kangema MP Muturi Kigano, said the panel will meet.

"The committee will be meeting from Monday to handle pending matters and agreeing on how to proceed with other issues," he said. 

The Star has learnt that experts – Prof Patricia Mbote and Dr Collins Odote – could have advised against any plans to have the Constitution of Kenya (Amendment) Bill 2020 reviewed.

Experts were to guide the committee on at least six thematic areas, including advising lawmakers on the nature of the bill, public participation, the processing, substantive issues, the referendum and the status of litigation.

The legal team is, however, said to have recommended that the distribution of the proposed 70 constituencies be abandoned and the job handed to the electoral commission.

The constituencies issue is said to have precipitated a deadlock, with senators agreeing with legal experts while their National Assembly counterparts are opposed to the move.

The legal team is today expected to brief the committee on its findings before the Secretariat retreats to write the final report.

The report(s) will then be submitted to Parliament either at a special sitting or when it convenes on May 4.

As the joint committee convenes for crunch talks, it has emerged that the highly anticipated special sitting of Parliament for the BBI report will not happen this week.

There were indications that the bicameral House was to resume this week to consider the report of the joint committee on the amendment bill, popularly known as the BBI bill.

On Sunday, Kigano reiterated that he was not aware of a special sitting this week.

“I am not aware of it,” the Kangema MP said without giving details.

The senator, who sought anonymity because of the sensitivity of the issue, told the Star in confidence that the committee's retreat at Windsor Hotel, Nairobi, would be stormy.

“We will start substantive discussions on Monday but I foresee a situation where we will end up with two reports – one by the Senate and another by the National Assembly,” the senator said.

The legislator said there is a possibility that the joint committee will not hammer a common position on all the issues of contention in the bill.

“Senators must make the changes. They argue that the bill, being a popular initiative, does not need concurrence of the two houses and that is why they present theirs to the President at their own time,” the senator added.

There are claims that the National Assembly is keen to fast-track the bill and have it sent to the President by the end of the week so that the road to the referendum can begin.

The law requires that once Parliament approves the bill, the two speakers will submit it to the President without delay.

There are reports that ODM leader Raila Odinga's allies are split over BBI with some pushing to have the report amended once it is tabled in Parliament.

Siaya Senator James Orengo, a key Raila confidant, is said to be among those spearheading the push to have the report reviewed.

Last week, a section of senators who are lawyers in the joint committee, including those allied to Raila, held an informal meeting and backed amendments to the report.

But Raila's legal adviser and former BBI secretariat co-secretary Paul Mwangi has dismissed the push to review the report.

"I have told Raila Odinga that if he allows the reopening of the report, it will be the end of BBI," Mwangi cautioned on Sunday.  BY THE STAR