This archive report was first published on 18 July 2019.
On Thursday, Senate Speaker Kenneth Lusaka led senators in a march to the High Court to file a petition challenging more than 20 laws enacted without their input, as the turf war with the National Assembly escalates.
The petition, filed on July 18, 2019, seeks to annul at least 26 Acts of Parliament that the senators claim do not comply with the due process.
According to the senators, National Assembly Speaker Justin Muturi has ignored the legislation guiding the passing of a bill and unilaterally determined which bills concern counties.
The senators argue that since the inauguration of the 12th Parliament in 2013, Mr. Muturi has rejected pleas from the Senate for a meeting to determine all the bills that have eventually been enacted.
The dispute between the two chambers stems from the interpretation of Article 110 (3) of the Constitution, which states that before either House considers a Bill, the Speakers of the National Assembly and Senate shall jointly resolve any question as to the nature of a Bill before its introduction.
The Supreme Court had previously advised that the business of considering and passing of any Bill is not to be embarked upon and concluded before a meeting of the two Speakers.
“Neither Speaker may, to the exclusion of the other, determine the nature of a Bill. That would inevitably result in usurpations of jurisdiction, to the prejudice of the constitutional principle of the harmonious interplay of State institutions,” the Supreme Court observed.
