Kenyan MPs to miss Eala millions for a while

The clerk of the East African Legislative Assembly has set next Monday as the date of the first sitting of the regional Parliament.

Kenya’s delay in electing members could however result in the assembly being in limbo as no business can proceed unless members from all five states are present.

QUORUM

Former National Assembly clerk Justin Bundi, who was in the team that drafted the assembly’s rules, told the Nation that Kenya’s absence would virtually stop the assembly’s work.

“Swearing-in of the new members will continue but there will be no election of a Speaker. They also can’t proceed to set up committees,” said Mr Bundi.

The quorum of the assembly is half of the entire membership, with a third of members from each of the member states.

This means that Kenya must have a minimum of three of its nine representatives present before the business of the assembly can start.

In his letter to the newly elected members, Kenneth Madete, Eala’s clerk, said that an air ticket and daily subsistence allowance would be provided for the number of nights they would officially spend in Arusha.

SH1.49 MILLION

“In accordance with the provisions of Rule 4 of the Rules of the Assembly, this is to notify you that the first sitting of the fourth Assembly is scheduled to take place on Monday June 5, 2017 at the seat of the EALA in Arusha, Tanzania, United Republic of Tanzania,” Mr Madete said in the letter seen by the Nation.

Those who will be sworn in will start earning the $14,908 (Sh1.49 million) salary but will officially not be doing much since the House will not have quorum.

Each of the member states is required to make a contribution of $8.4 million (Sh840 million).

Kenya’s delay in electing its representatives would effectively mean that the other countries’ members start getting salaries from a kitty to which Kenya has contributed, without Kenya getting any benefit.

The election delay has been brought about by a deadlock between the Jubilee and Cord coalitions.

DEADLOCK

Jubilee is pushing Cord to add seven names to the five it has already identified as candidates.

Cord is against the idea but needs to make changes to the report of the joint committee overseeing the elections, which had recommended that the number of Cord’s nominees be raised.

There is already a dilemma on how this would proceed as the Senate last week rejected Cord’s proposed amendments to the report of the joint committee.

Last week, Cord leaders said their Jubilee counterparts want to push the election of Kenya’s representatives until after the next General Election.

But Majority Leader Aden Duale said Cord should blame itself for its inability to get its members into the House last Thursday to amend the report.

15 CANDIDATES

Mr Bundi is among Jubilee’s 15 candidates.

He was the clerk of the regional assembly from 2004 to 2009 and participated in the drafting of the East African Community Treaty as well as the assembly’s rules of procedure.

He presided over the admission of Rwanda and Burundi to the East African Community and Eala in 2007.

Mr Bundi is understood to enjoy the support of MPs because of his work as clerk of the National Assembly as well as his experience at Eala.