{"id":14851,"date":"2020-09-23T20:16:09","date_gmt":"2020-09-23T20:16:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.com\/kenya\/?p=14851"},"modified":"2020-09-23T20:16:09","modified_gmt":"2020-09-23T20:16:09","slug":"odinga-urges-president-uhuru-to-consult-over-parliament-dissolution-call","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/kenya\/policy\/odinga-urges-president-uhuru-to-consult-over-parliament-dissolution-call","title":{"rendered":"Odinga urges President Uhuru to consult over Parliament dissolution call"},"content":{"rendered":"

Author:\u00a0JAPHETH OGILA<\/strong>
\nAfricaPress-Kenya:<\/strong> ODM leader Raila Odinga\u00a0has broken the silence and urged President Uhuru Kenyatta to consult widely on Chief Justice David Maraga\u2019s call to dissolve Parliament.<\/p>\n

In a statement sent newsrooms on Wednesday evening, the former premier painted a picture that the country could find itself in a fragile situation, where divergent opinions must be heard, and multiple interests satisfied in the matter.<\/p>\n

In this respect, the ODM leader argued that the President could still pull the country out of the impending legal mess if he engages positive legal pieces of advice.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe country has been thrown into this situation because of failure by Parliament to enact the two-third gender rule as provided for in the Constitution,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cI appeal to the President to consult as widely as possible before taking any action on this matter and ensure that the overall interests of the people are served by any action he finally decides to take,\u201d Odinga added.<\/p>\n

With leaders taking sides over the matter and giving reasons over their stands; Mr Odinga had however chosen a middle ground.<\/p>\n

He appreciated the need to enact the two-thirds gender rule and the urgency that comes with it. But at the same time, expressed uncertainty as to whether dissolving the Parliament could be the long-lasting remedy.<\/p>\n

\u201c\u2026 it remains unclear how the dissolution of Parliament would resolve the problem,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Legal pundits have argued that dissolving Parliament could prove to be a reactionary rather than an accurate solution to the deadlock. This is on the postulation that there would be no guarantee that a fresh parliamentary election would assure adherence to the dictates of the two-thirds gender rule.<\/p>\n

For example, Nyeri Town MP Ngunjiri Wambugu had this opinion when\u00a0Justice Maraga issued the advisory on Monday.<\/p>\n

\u201cHowever the reality is that until there is a structure of how to ensure that a universal suffrage election results in a situation where 30 per cent of all elected leaders are of an alternate gender, it will be hard to achieve,\u201d said Wambugu.<\/p>\n

MPs opposition<\/strong><\/p>\n

The advisory has attracted criticism from the Parliamentary Service Commission that said it is immature and possibly counterproductive. Yesterday,\u00a0National Assembly Speaker Justin Muturi\u00a0announced legal action against the advisory.<\/p>\n

\u201cPSC has resolved to engage counsels to proceed to the high court to challenge the unlawful and unconstitutional action taken by the Chief Justice. The PSC is convinced that the present matter shall be resolved lawfully and calls for calm and sobriety to avert national anxiety and despondency that the action by CJ could elicit,\u201d Muturi stated, in a press conference in Nairobi.<\/p>\n

Joining the PSC is\u00a0Kenya National Union of Teachers\u00a0(Knut) that has vowed similar legal action to challenge the advisory citing possible economic disruption should the President dissolve the Parliament.<\/p>\n

\u201cKnut has instructed its lawyers to pursue the matter, and accordingly enjoin the union in the application by the Parliamentary Service Commission (PSC) to challenge Chief Justice David Maraga\u2019s advice to the Head of State to dissolve Parliament,\u201d Knut said in a statement released on Wednesday evening.<\/p>\n

The advisory that\u00a0pits the legislature and the judiciary in a tug of war however enjoys the backing of various leaders mostly female legislators.<\/p>\n

On Monday,\u00a0Narc Kenya leader Martha Karua\u00a0hailed the move by Chief Justice saying it was a step in the right direction to enact the elusive rule.<\/p>\n

She then called on President Uhuru to dissolve the parliament.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is a timely and long overdue decision. The law doesn\u2019t leave room for the President not to act otherwise. He should be on the good side of the law and dissolve Parliament,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

Maraga made the decision after six petitioners moved to the court to have him fulfil his constitutional duty to punish the lawmakers for failing to live to the expectations.<\/p>\n

Last year in March,\u00a0High Court Judge John Mativo\u00a0allowed members of the public in a landmark ruling to petition the Chief Justice to dissolve the Parliament for failure to pass the Gender bill. This opened a floodgate of petitions as seven people moved to court pursuant to the ruling.<\/p>\n

The onus is now on the President to act as legislators wait with crossed fingers to know their fate in the 12th Parliament.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Author:\u00a0JAPHETH OGILA AfricaPress-Kenya: ODM leader Raila Odinga\u00a0has broken the silence and urged President Uhuru Kenyatta to consult widely on Chief Justice David Maraga\u2019s call to dissolve Parliament. In a statement sent newsrooms on Wednesday evening, the former premier painted a picture that the country could find itself in a fragile situation, where divergent opinions must […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":84,"featured_media":13265,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2,8,12],"tags":[770,362,5002],"class_list":["post-14851","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-president-uhuru-kenyatta","tag-two-thirds-gender-rule"],"yoast_head":"\nOdinga urges President Uhuru to consult over Parliament dissolution call - kenya<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"ODM leader Raila Odinga\u00a0has broken the silence and urged President Uhuru Kenyatta to consult widely on Chief Justice David Maraga\u2019s call\" \/>\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\/odinga-urges-president-uhuru-to-consult-over-parliament-dissolution-call\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Odinga urges President Uhuru to consult over Parliament dissolution call\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"ODM leader Raila Odinga\u00a0has broken the silence and urged President Uhuru Kenyatta to consult widely on Chief Justice David Maraga\u2019s call\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/kenya\/policy\/odinga-urges-president-uhuru-to-consult-over-parliament-dissolution-call\" \/>\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=\"2020-09-23T20:16:09+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/kenya\/sites\/28\/2020\/08\/odm_dismisses_claims5f4228c12a266.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"698\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"437\" \/>\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=\"4 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\/odinga-urges-president-uhuru-to-consult-over-parliament-dissolution-call#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/kenya\/policy\/odinga-urges-president-uhuru-to-consult-over-parliament-dissolution-call\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"cfeditoren\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/kenya\/#\/schema\/person\/068c7ab4e9634ae78ec5d54ec46598bb\"},\"headline\":\"Odinga urges President Uhuru to consult over Parliament dissolution call\",\"datePublished\":\"2020-09-23T20:16:09+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/kenya\/policy\/odinga-urges-president-uhuru-to-consult-over-parliament-dissolution-call\"},\"wordCount\":723,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/kenya\/policy\/odinga-urges-president-uhuru-to-consult-over-parliament-dissolution-call#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/kenya\/sites\/28\/2020\/08\/odm_dismisses_claims5f4228c12a266.jpg\",\"keywords\":[\"Chief Justice David Maraga\",\"President Uhuru Kenyatta\",\"Two- thirds gender rule\"],\"articleSection\":[\"all news\",\"homepage-english\",\"policy\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/kenya\/policy\/odinga-urges-president-uhuru-to-consult-over-parliament-dissolution-call#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/kenya\/policy\/odinga-urges-president-uhuru-to-consult-over-parliament-dissolution-call\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/kenya\/policy\/odinga-urges-president-uhuru-to-consult-over-parliament-dissolution-call\",\"name\":\"Odinga urges President Uhuru to consult over Parliament dissolution call - kenya\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/kenya\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/kenya\/policy\/odinga-urges-president-uhuru-to-consult-over-parliament-dissolution-call#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/kenya\/policy\/odinga-urges-president-uhuru-to-consult-over-parliament-dissolution-call#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/kenya\/sites\/28\/2020\/08\/odm_dismisses_claims5f4228c12a266.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2020-09-23T20:16:09+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/kenya\/#\/schema\/person\/068c7ab4e9634ae78ec5d54ec46598bb\"},\"description\":\"ODM leader Raila Odinga\u00a0has broken the silence and urged President Uhuru Kenyatta to consult widely on Chief Justice David Maraga\u2019s call\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/kenya\/policy\/odinga-urges-president-uhuru-to-consult-over-parliament-dissolution-call#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/kenya\/policy\/odinga-urges-president-uhuru-to-consult-over-parliament-dissolution-call\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/kenya\/policy\/odinga-urges-president-uhuru-to-consult-over-parliament-dissolution-call#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/kenya\/sites\/28\/2020\/08\/odm_dismisses_claims5f4228c12a266.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/kenya\/sites\/28\/2020\/08\/odm_dismisses_claims5f4228c12a266.jpg\",\"width\":698,\"height\":437},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/kenya\/policy\/odinga-urges-president-uhuru-to-consult-over-parliament-dissolution-call#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/kenya\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Odinga urges President Uhuru to consult over Parliament dissolution call\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/kenya\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/kenya\/\",\"name\":\"kenya\",\"description\":\"Just another Africa News Agency Sites site\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/kenya\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/kenya\/#\/schema\/person\/068c7ab4e9634ae78ec5d54ec46598bb\",\"name\":\"cfeditoren\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/kenya\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/7417380fa9e23b5c57fdbfdaf3fdf92ee478f759a084addda5faa3732853e74a?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/7417380fa9e23b5c57fdbfdaf3fdf92ee478f759a084addda5faa3732853e74a?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"cfeditoren\"}}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO Premium plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Odinga urges President Uhuru to consult over Parliament dissolution call - kenya","description":"ODM leader Raila Odinga\u00a0has broken the silence and urged President Uhuru Kenyatta to consult widely on Chief Justice David Maraga\u2019s call","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/kenya\/policy\/odinga-urges-president-uhuru-to-consult-over-parliament-dissolution-call","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Odinga urges President Uhuru to consult over Parliament dissolution call","og_description":"ODM leader Raila Odinga\u00a0has broken the silence and urged President Uhuru Kenyatta to consult widely on Chief Justice David Maraga\u2019s call","og_url":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/kenya\/policy\/odinga-urges-president-uhuru-to-consult-over-parliament-dissolution-call","og_site_name":"kenya","article_publisher":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/AfricaPressTunisiaa","article_published_time":"2020-09-23T20:16:09+00:00","og_image":[{"width":698,"height":437,"url":"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/kenya\/sites\/28\/2020\/08\/odm_dismisses_claims5f4228c12a266.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"cfeditoren","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"cfeditoren","Est. reading time":"4 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/kenya\/policy\/odinga-urges-president-uhuru-to-consult-over-parliament-dissolution-call#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/kenya\/policy\/odinga-urges-president-uhuru-to-consult-over-parliament-dissolution-call"},"author":{"name":"cfeditoren","@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/kenya\/#\/schema\/person\/068c7ab4e9634ae78ec5d54ec46598bb"},"headline":"Odinga urges President Uhuru to consult over Parliament dissolution call","datePublished":"2020-09-23T20:16:09+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/kenya\/policy\/odinga-urges-president-uhuru-to-consult-over-parliament-dissolution-call"},"wordCount":723,"commentCount":0,"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/kenya\/policy\/odinga-urges-president-uhuru-to-consult-over-parliament-dissolution-call#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/kenya\/sites\/28\/2020\/08\/odm_dismisses_claims5f4228c12a266.jpg","keywords":["Chief Justice David Maraga","President Uhuru Kenyatta","Two- thirds gender rule"],"articleSection":["all news","homepage-english","policy"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/kenya\/policy\/odinga-urges-president-uhuru-to-consult-over-parliament-dissolution-call#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/kenya\/policy\/odinga-urges-president-uhuru-to-consult-over-parliament-dissolution-call","url":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/kenya\/policy\/odinga-urges-president-uhuru-to-consult-over-parliament-dissolution-call","name":"Odinga urges President Uhuru to consult over Parliament dissolution call - kenya","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/kenya\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/kenya\/policy\/odinga-urges-president-uhuru-to-consult-over-parliament-dissolution-call#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/kenya\/policy\/odinga-urges-president-uhuru-to-consult-over-parliament-dissolution-call#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/kenya\/sites\/28\/2020\/08\/odm_dismisses_claims5f4228c12a266.jpg","datePublished":"2020-09-23T20:16:09+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/kenya\/#\/schema\/person\/068c7ab4e9634ae78ec5d54ec46598bb"},"description":"ODM leader Raila Odinga\u00a0has broken the silence and urged President Uhuru Kenyatta to consult widely on Chief Justice David Maraga\u2019s call","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/kenya\/policy\/odinga-urges-president-uhuru-to-consult-over-parliament-dissolution-call#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/kenya\/policy\/odinga-urges-president-uhuru-to-consult-over-parliament-dissolution-call"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/kenya\/policy\/odinga-urges-president-uhuru-to-consult-over-parliament-dissolution-call#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/kenya\/sites\/28\/2020\/08\/odm_dismisses_claims5f4228c12a266.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/kenya\/sites\/28\/2020\/08\/odm_dismisses_claims5f4228c12a266.jpg","width":698,"height":437},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/kenya\/policy\/odinga-urges-president-uhuru-to-consult-over-parliament-dissolution-call#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/kenya\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Odinga urges President Uhuru to consult over Parliament dissolution call"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/kenya\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/kenya\/","name":"kenya","description":"Just another Africa News Agency Sites site","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/kenya\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/kenya\/#\/schema\/person\/068c7ab4e9634ae78ec5d54ec46598bb","name":"cfeditoren","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/kenya\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/7417380fa9e23b5c57fdbfdaf3fdf92ee478f759a084addda5faa3732853e74a?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/7417380fa9e23b5c57fdbfdaf3fdf92ee478f759a084addda5faa3732853e74a?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"cfeditoren"}}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/kenya\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14851","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/kenya\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/kenya\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/kenya\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/84"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/kenya\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=14851"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/kenya\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14851\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/kenya\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/13265"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/kenya\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=14851"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/kenya\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=14851"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/kenya\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=14851"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}