Amendment to merge KNCHR and Gender Commission shot down by MPs » Capital News

NAIROBI, Kenya Nov 17 –  An attempt by Ndaragwa MP Jeremiah Kioni to merge the National Gender and Equality Commission (NGEC) and the Kenya National Commission on Human Rights (KNCHR) has been shot down after the National Assembly voted against it moving to the next stage of the legislative process.

Deputy Speaker Moses Cheboi informed the House that 37 MPs voted against the KNCHR Amendment Bill while 15 MPs voted in support of merging the Commissions.

Cheboi who was presiding over the House proceedings on Wednesday was forced to order a secret vote after more than 30 MPs objected to his declaration that the Yes vote had carried the day.

“On the electronic voting, the Ayes had 1 vote while Nays had 36 votes. On the manual voting; the Ayes had nil, the Nay 15 votes. So the Nays have it. It is very interesting, how Honourable Members were voting on decibels,” the Deputy Speaker observed.

Garissa Township MP Aden Duale, Suba North MP Millie Odhiambo and Kisumu County Woman Representative Rosa Buyu say the merger is misconstrued and misplaced as it is intended to weaken systems important to promoting inclusive development.

Duale argued that the proposed merger goes against the spirit of Bills of Rights.

“What Kioni was trying to do, is to undo what the judges said, this was contrary to the Doctrine of Basic Structure.””In the 2010 Constitution, I was with Kioni and Millie in this House and we said there will be two distinct commissions one on gender and the other on human rights. This is the behaviour of some people who carry the old mentality,” Duale said.

In its declaration to annul the Building Bridges Initiative Constitution Amendment, the Court of Appeal and High Court said key in those findings is the ruling that the basic structure doctrine is applicable in Kenya and that it limits the constitutional amendment power set out in Articles 255 to 257.

Kioni, who is the Chairperson of the Parliamentary Constitutional Implementation Oversight Committee, argues that the merger would cut on the wage and improve on service delivery.

In the Bill, the Ndaragwa MP argues that there are no marked and diametrical differences in functions between the two institutions since gender issues fall within the sphere of human rights.

The NGEC refuted Kioni’s arguments for the merger and asserted that Parliament was exercising an expired mandate by dint of constitutional clawback on legislative powers in Article 59 (5)b(c).

“Being a commission established in Chapter 4 of the Constitutions on the Bill of Rights, to ensure, with the sister commissions, that the Bill of Rights chapter is fully and effectively implemented, the dissolution of NGEC can only be through a referendum pursuant to Article 255(1) (e),” NGEC said in its statement.