Packed agenda for MPs as sittings resume

The National Assembly, which is set to resume its sittings on Tuesday after a month-long recess, will be under pressure to dispense with plenty of business in a short time.

Top on the in-tray will be the budget, which will be tabled together with President Uhuru Kenyatta’s Sh53.7 billion economic stimulus package aimed at cushioning the economy against the impact of Covid-19 crisis.

The Referendum Bill, 2020 drafted by the Constitutional Implementation Oversight Committee (CIOC) has also been listed in the Order Paper. The bill seeks to have a referendum held together with the 2022 General Election to minimise costs, and proposes measures to bridge the existing legal and constitutional gaps.

The Finance Bill, which seeks to add the burden on taxpayers, is also coming up for the Second Reading. Treasury Cabinet Secretary Ukur Yatani brought back some measures that had been rejected by the House.

Mr Yatani is now seeking to have cooking gas as a vatable good and wants Pay As You Earn (PAYE) charged on overtime allowances and bonuses for workers who earn less than Sh12,298.

Other controversial measures retained in the bill are taxing income generated from home ownership savings, income earned by the National Social Security Fund (NSSF), monthly pension payouts and the dissolving of expenses, including listing fees and social investment from the computation of corporate tax.

It is aimed at unlocking more revenue to help the government meet its rising expenditure needs and bridging the budget deficit.

MPs DE-WHIPPED

The House will be seeking to establish an ad-hoc committee on Covid-19, which will be tasked with, among other things, coordinating the country’s preparedness in prevention and response to the threat and develop mitigation programmes to address the health crisis.

The House is reconvening at a time of high-octane politics following a political purge in the ruling Jubilee Party and the minority side, the National Super Alliance (Nasa).

Both sides have de-whipped some members labelled as supporters of Deputy President William Ruto, who is fighting fellow party members in efforts to succeed party leader Uhuru Kenyatta.

Those removed by Nasa are Tindi Mwale (Energy), Catherine Wambilianga (Labour), Sylvanus Osoro (Agriculture), Nakara Lodepe (Defence), David Ochieng (Health), Vincent Kemosi (Transport) and Gideon Ochanda, who will be redeployed from the Budget and Appropriations Committee.

Deputy minority whip Chris Wamalwa will be replaced by Tongaren MP Eseli Simiyu, who is also the Ford-Kenya secretary-general.

In Jubilee, Majority Leader Aden Duale, Majority Whip Benjamin Washiali and his deputy Cecily Mbarire and a number of Dr Ruto’s allies heading committees are set to be replaced in a Jubilee Parliamentary Group meeting set for Tuesday morning.

RESTORING DISCIPLINE

Despite facing the axe, Mr Washiali said he is still committed to supporting government agenda. “We will not frustrate the agenda of the government. Whether they want to remove us or not, we will continue to support the agenda of Uhuru-Ruto in helping Kenyans,” Mr Washiali said.

Minority Leader John Mbadi termed as serious the business going to be transacted in the House, saying  the purge in Nasa and Jubilee is good for business.

“The changes done by the parties are to restore discipline and ensure parliamentary programmes are not interfered with. We are getting into a phase of reforms where the Building Bridges Initiative (BBI) report is coming, so there is need to ensure discipline so that things can move,” Mr Mbadi told the Sunday Nation.

Public Accounts Committee Chairman Opiyo Wandayi said Parliament must continue to operate irrespective of undercurrents in the political parties.

“Party discipline is essential for proper functioning of Parliament. Therefore, members must rise to the occasion irrespective of the upheavals in their parties,” Mr Wandayi said.

BOOST INFRASTRUCTURE

Kieni MP Kanini Kega said despite the current political waves, he expects a more focused House ready to deliver.

“Unlike in the past where there was grandstanding, this time I expect a more cohesive House with less heated debate because we don’t have a lot of time, and the protagonists are also working with the government. It will be like a new House because we will have new leadership in place, and therefore, members will be more vibrant, organised and focused in dispensing bills," he observed.

Through the President’s stimulus package, government plans to hire 200,000 youth to clean towns, 10,000 teachers and 5,000 health workers.

President Kenyatta has set aside Sh5 billion for infrastructure, which has been affected due to heavy rains. He has also allocated an additional Sh6.5 billion to the Ministry of Education to hire 10,000 teachers and 1,000 ICT interns to support digital learning.

PRIORITISE ECONOMY

Small and medium enterprises received Sh10 billion of the stimulus package, and Sh1.7 billion was allocated for the expansion of bed capacity in public hospitals.

Budget and Appropriation Committee chaired by Kikuyu MP Kimani Ichung’wa has already met with the Treasury CS twice on the stimulus package and approved most of the allocations.

Mr Mbadi confirmed the committee has already approved the stimulus package and will be tabling a report next week.

“We went through the package with the CS Treasury and as a committee we have largely approved the stimulus package, although we feel more should be pumped into our economy to revive it faster,” Mr Mbadi said.

The budget committee, however, told CS Yatani that the Sh53 billion package is not sufficient to protect the economy.