{"id":14833,"date":"2020-09-23T20:00:59","date_gmt":"2020-09-23T20:00:59","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.com\/kenya\/?p=14833"},"modified":"2020-09-23T20:00:59","modified_gmt":"2020-09-23T20:00:59","slug":"mps-unease-over-gender-rule-advisory","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/kenya\/policy\/mps-unease-over-gender-rule-advisory","title":{"rendered":"MPs unease over gender rule advisory"},"content":{"rendered":"

Author: ALLAN MUNGAI\u00a0<\/strong>
\nAfricaPress-Kenya:<\/strong> Legislators have everything to lose if President Uhuru Kenyatta takes the advisory of Chief Justice David Maraga and dissolves Parliament over failure to enact legislation on the two-thirds gender rule.<\/p>\n

The MPs unease was evident yesterday on the floor of the House as they questioned the timing of the CJ\u2019s advisory. They blamed some of the MPs for missing sittings that saw the National Assembly fail at least four times to marshal numbers to pass the law.<\/p>\n

Kiminini MP Chrisantus Wamalwa and Suba South MP John Mbadi said the reason why the two-thirds gender rule flopped was because some of the female legislators were not present in Parliament.<\/p>\n

Wamalwa named Homa Bay Woman Representative Gladys Wanga as one of the absentees when the gender Bill was being debated.<\/p>\n

But Ms Wanga said she was in the House in the four instances that the Bill was shot down. \u201cI have been here every time. This\u00a0is a matter ?for\u00a0all of us to resolve together. We will not get to the bottom of it by attacking and bad-mouthing each other and trying to put each other down,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

Ignore the activism<\/strong><\/p>\n

Majority Leader Amos Kimunya expressed concern over the domino effect the dissolution of\u00a0Parliament\u00a0would have on 4,000-odd staff of the MPs<\/p>\n

Kimunya noted that each of the 416 MPs has 10 staff. \u201cCollectively, there are 4000 people and their families who are anxious about whether they are going home or not because once Parliament is dissolved, the constituency office is also dissolved,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

The Kipipiri MP said the\u00a0CJ\u2019s advisory\u00a0was worse than Parliament\u2019s failures and asked the president to \u201cignore the activism that has been shown and save the country from chaos.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThere is no way a solution to the problem can be worse than the problem itself. The president now has to make a\u00a0decision\u00a0between saving the baby or\u00a0killing it,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Kisumu West MP\u00a0Olago Aluoch wondered why the CJ has been silent since 2015 and questioned his motive now. \u201cIs the CJ acting at the behest of persons outside this House\u00a0who would like to scuttle the BBI process?\u201d Olago posed. He said the advisory was reckless and ought to be ignored.<\/p>\n

At stake is not only the MPs\u2019 status but also the loss of\u00a0parliamentary\u00a0resources, key among them the hefty perks.<\/p>\n

Lawmakers earn Sh710,000 per month exclusive of allowances. They are also\u00a0entitled to Sh5 million car grant per 5-year term, a personal car loan of up to Sh7 million and repayable at three per cent interest, mileage and car maintenance of Sh356,525 monthly.<\/p>\n

In addition, the MPs are eligible for a State-backed mortgage of up to Sh35 million repayable at an interest rate of three per cent and tax-free pension.<\/p>\n

They also receive a generous medical allowance for themselves, their spouse, and up to four children below 25 years.<\/p>\n

Maraga observed in his advisory that the\u00a0dissolution of Parliament\u00a0will cause inconvenience and even economic hardship to the 416 members of the National Assembly and the Senate, as well as their two Speakers.<\/p>\n

It is instructive that towards the 2017 General Election, the Parliamentary Service Commission (PSC) said MPs and parliamentary staff owed the Car Loan Scheme Sh213.1 million.<\/p>\n

The PSC said in 2017 that more than 100 MPs had defaulted on the loans and faced the risk of having their cars repossessed to recover outstanding loans.<\/p>\n

As of 2019, 183 MPs had received car loans and mortgages and were servicing them and should\u00a0Parliament\u00a0be dissolved, they will be forced to seek alternative ways of repaying the loans.<\/p>\n

South Mugirango MP Silvanus Osoro admitted that members would be hard hit should Parliament be dissolved but said their contract was binding for five years.<\/p>\n

\u201cMPs are challenged if you look at it politically. From the psychological trauma of preparing for another election, some have not paid party dues so they cannot be cleared to vie for the seat again,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cLooking at it from a legal point of view, the contractual agreement that we had with PSC is five years. That means that even the agreement that I had with any other parties including Saccos stood at five years. When my contract is canceled not through my own doing, the element of loss is handed over to the other party that loses big,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

He added that in that scenario, MPs could petition PSC to pay them for the remainder of their term.<\/p>\n

MPs Maoka Maore (Igembe North), Godfrey Osotsi (Nominated) and Mwangi Gichuhi (Tetu) said their interests were secondary to the difficult position that the country would be in if Parliament is dissolved.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt is not personal on the MPs. The implication is to the country and not the individual,\u201d Maore said.<\/p>\n

Individual interests<\/strong><\/p>\n

Osotsi said: \u201cLet us look at the bigger picture. Even if we might have our own individual interests, the bigger picture is the country. We have to ask ourselves if the county is ready for such an action. I think it is not.\u201d<\/p>\n

Gichuhi disclosed that the MPs were wary of the CJ\u2019s advisory. \u201cWe have a contract for five years and of course no one wants their contract cut short. We were all prepared to face the electorate after five years,\u201d he said, and added the matter was about the interest of the country and not MPs\u2019 perks.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt is not about me personally or about mortgages, salaries, or car loans. It is about the whole country and the risk of a constitutional crisis,\u201d Gichuhi said.<\/p>\n

But while other MPs were wary about the decision the president would make, Kimilili MP Didimus Barasa called for dissolution of the House.<\/p>\n

He said the MPs, like Kenyans, who had lost their jobs and businesses due to Covid-19 should be ready to bear the brunt of the decision.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere are many Kenyans who lost their businesses because of Covid-19 and they haven\u2019t died. MPs will look for another way to mitigate. We cannot worry about protecting the interests of the MPs or about losing houses and cars,\u201d he said. \u201cWe swore to protect the Constitution.\u201d<\/p>\n

Suba North MP\u00a0Millie Odhiambo supported Maraga\u2019s decision. \u201cParliament\u00a0has done\u00a0its bit,\u00a0we have brought several Bills before and Parliament has expressed itself and said no. Since Parliament said no, the matter moves to a different authority and that is the CJ.\u00a0No one\u00a0abused Parliament when they made their decision. The CJ has made his decision and it\u2019s nothing personal. So, if we really want to help this country and this House, let us depersonalise attacks against the CJ,\u201d\u00a0she said.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Author: ALLAN MUNGAI\u00a0 AfricaPress-Kenya: Legislators have everything to lose if President Uhuru Kenyatta takes the advisory of Chief Justice David Maraga and dissolves Parliament over failure to enact legislation on the two-thirds gender rule. The MPs unease was evident yesterday on the floor of the House as they questioned the timing of the CJ\u2019s advisory. […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":84,"featured_media":14829,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2,8,12],"tags":[770,5777,362],"class_list":["post-14833","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-all-news","category-homepage-english","category-policy","tag-chief-justice-david-maraga","tag-cjs-advisory","tag-president-uhuru-kenyatta"],"yoast_head":"\nMPs unease over gender rule advisory - kenya<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Legislators have everything to lose if President Uhuru Kenyatta takes the advisory of Chief Justice David Maraga and dissolves Parliament\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/kenya\/policy\/mps-unease-over-gender-rule-advisory\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"MPs unease over gender rule advisory\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Legislators have everything to lose if President Uhuru Kenyatta takes the advisory of Chief Justice David Maraga and dissolves Parliament\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/kenya\/policy\/mps-unease-over-gender-rule-advisory\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"kenya\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/AfricaPressTunisiaa\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2020-09-23T20:00:59+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/kenya\/sites\/28\/2020\/09\/mps_unease_over_gend5f6a4980206cb.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"800\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"500\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"cfeditoren\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"cfeditoren\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"6 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/kenya\/policy\/mps-unease-over-gender-rule-advisory#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/kenya\/policy\/mps-unease-over-gender-rule-advisory\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"cfeditoren\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/kenya\/#\/schema\/person\/068c7ab4e9634ae78ec5d54ec46598bb\"},\"headline\":\"MPs unease over gender rule advisory\",\"datePublished\":\"2020-09-23T20:00:59+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/kenya\/policy\/mps-unease-over-gender-rule-advisory\"},\"wordCount\":1111,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/kenya\/policy\/mps-unease-over-gender-rule-advisory#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/kenya\/sites\/28\/2020\/09\/mps_unease_over_gend5f6a4980206cb.jpg\",\"keywords\":[\"Chief Justice David Maraga\",\"CJ\u2019s advisory\",\"President Uhuru Kenyatta\"],\"articleSection\":[\"all news\",\"homepage-english\",\"policy\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/kenya\/policy\/mps-unease-over-gender-rule-advisory#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/kenya\/policy\/mps-unease-over-gender-rule-advisory\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/kenya\/policy\/mps-unease-over-gender-rule-advisory\",\"name\":\"MPs unease over gender rule advisory - 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