Members of Parliament are plotting to exploit a loophole in the Constitution by ‘sitting’ on Ekuru ukot’s Punguza Mizigo Bill should it get the backing of at least 24 county assemblies as required for it to be submitted to Parliament.

Article 257 of the Constitution that provides for the popular initiative path does not give timelines within which Parliament should introduce the Bill, handing lawmakers a lethal weapon against the initiative.

“If a county assembly approves the draft Bill within three months after the date it was submitted by the Commission, the speaker of the county assembly shall deliver a copy of the draft Bill jointly to the speakers of the two Houses of Parliament, with a certificate that the county assembly has approved it.

“If a draft Bill has been approved by a majority of the county assemblies, it shall be introduced in Parliament without delay,” reads the Article.Several MPs disclosed that they may decide to exploit the loophole in a protest against the Ekuru Aukot-led Thirdway Alliance for allegedly not engaging stakeholders in coming up with the Bill.

According to the Standard, several MPs have disclosed that they may decide to exploit the loophole in a protest against the Ekuru Aukot-led Thirdway Alliance for allegedly not engaging stakeholders in coming up with the Bill.

The Punguza Mizigo Bill, which also proposes a single seven-year presidential term and installs Senate as the upper house, however, was backed by 1.2 million voters — more than the 1 million needed for the electoral commission to submit the draft Bill to county assemblies. 

At the heart of the plot is a bid by MPs to protect President Uhuru Kenyatta and Opposition chief Raila Odinga’s Building Bridges Initiative (BBI), which is expected to come up with a Bill for a referendum.

Raila has expressly asked his supporters to ignore the Punguza Mizigo Bill, and yesterday the Siaya county assembly rejected it after members approved a Justice Committee report that recommended its rejection.

Jubilee, through Secretary General Raphael Tuju, has said the ruling party was for the BBI, giving the strongest indication that the two main parties may use their numerical strengths in both county assemblies and Parliament to frustrate the passage of the Bill.