Kenyan speakers say Senate will defend Constitution

Nairobi. Senate Speaker Ekwee Ethuro and his deputy Kembi Gitura have said they will continue defending the Constitution even as National Assembly Speaker Justin Muturi creates new frontiers of conflict between the two Houses.

Mr Ethuro said the plain reading of the Constitution shows that the two Speakers have to consult jointly before any Bill is introduced in either House.

“Article 110 of the Constitution says the two Speakers shall jointly....that is ‘shall’ and ‘jointly’. It is English. You don’t need to be a lawyer to understand what that means. Even in Turkana where I went to school, I know that when it says jointly, it means more than one,” said Mr Ethuro.

He took issue with his counterpart in the Lower House for trying to lock the Senate out of legislation despite the clear provisions of the Constitution.

“There’s a reason why the laws, once passed, become Acts of Parliament. The Constitution says Parliament shall consist of the National Assembly and the Senate,” Mr Ethuro told journalists at a breakfast meeting held in Nairobi’s Intercontinental Hotel on Thursday

To the leadership of the Senate, Mr Muturi was misinterpreting obvious clauses of the Constitution.

They argued that the import of Mr Muturi’s ruling that he (Muturi) had the sole prerogative on what Bills concern counties meant that the Senate should play second fiddle, whereas the two Houses have to act jointly on legislation.

Firm belief in devolution

The Deputy Speaker said there was no point of speaking about a firm belief in devolution and then proceed in a manner to frustrate the Senate’s mandate. “People fight for space or supremacy when they don’t understand what their role is. You just have to read the Constitution. We are in a true symbiotic relationship. What as senators we are going to do is to insist that the Constitution has to be followed,” Mr Gitura noted.