Aden Duale, MP-elect for Garissa Township, has expressed concern about the delayed gazettement of the 13th Parliament’s first sitting date.
Duale, a close ally of President-elect William Ruto, issued a strongly worded statement warning of a potential constitutional crisis if President Uhuru Kenyatta fails to announce the date for the inaugural sitting within the deadlines.
According to the law, the president must publish the time and location of the first parliament sitting within 30 days of the elections.
Duale said there are only 7 days remaining for the Parliament to have its first sitting, yet there are no signs of Uhuru gazetting its sitting.
“Today, is exactly 23 days since the general elections. From a reading of Article 126(2) of the Constitution, there are only 7 days left for the timeline within which the President is required by the Constitution to gazette the date of the first sitting of Parliament to lapse,” he stated.
“It is worth noting that it is at the first sitting of the House that the Members-Elect of Parliament are sworn-in and the election of the Speaker and Deputy Speaker of the House is undertaken,” he added.
According to the constitution, the first Parliamentary session should be held by September 8.
As the official sitting days of parliament are Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday, the former Majority Leader in the National Assembly lamented that there are only three possible days for the first sitting to occur within the law.
Duale questioned the motive for the delay, given that the speaker election is on the table, as well as the potential consequences of the delay, in his statement. He also compared the time it took to announce the first sitting in the current election cycle to previous elections.
“What is therefore Cooking? Is there a deliberate move to delay or negate the swearing-in of Members-Elect? Is there an attempt to create a constitutional crisis by ensuring that Parliament is not in place?” he posed a question.
“Looking at Parliamentary Practice, in the 11th Parliament, the late, President H.E Mwai Kibaki gazetted the date of the first sitting of the 11th Parliament within 2 weeks after the election of the Uhuruto ticket.
“In 2017, President Kenyatta gazetted the first sitting of Parliament and by the end of August, Members had been sworn in. This is hence the first time we have crossed over September without a Parliament!” he added.
Since then, the veteran politician has urged President Uhuru to exercise his constitutional mandate and publish the dates to avoid a constitutional crisis.
“To this end, I urge the H.E. President to exercise his constitutional duty as required under Article 126(2) of the Constitution and pave way for a new Parliament as elected by the people of Kenya,” Duale noted in the statement.
Azimio la Umoja and Kenya Kwanza, the country’s two major political formations, have met to plan how to marshal numbers to elect speakers in both houses. After the official day is gazetted, the election is expected to be the first meeting in the first sitting.
Uhuru has not publicly discussed the elections, and he has not congratulated President-elect William Ruto.
The President was in Mombasa on Wednesday, August 31, flanked by Azimio politicians such as Ali Hassan Joho and governor Abdulswamad Nassir.
