National Assembly adjourns morning sitting over quorum hitch

The National Assembly on Wednesday adjourned its morning sitting following a quorum hitch.

The House which required a total of 50 members for the commencement of business failed to achieve the requisite number forcing the speaker to end the sitting with only 39 members in attendance.

The adjournment has interrupted the consideration of 31 bills that had been lined up for debate among them the ICT Practitioners Bill 2020, The Children Amendment Bill 2020, the Poverty Eradication Bill 2020 among others.

On Wednesday afternoon sitting members are expected to consider the report on the First Supplementary Estimates for the financial year 2021/22 as well as the Elections Amendment Bill 2022.

The National Assembly resumed its sittings on Tuesday after being on recess since 4th of March.

Before going on recess, the National Assembly had passed the Division of Revenue bill, which is currently before the Senate.

The bill is a priority in the Senate since the country is now in the budget preparation mode. The budget is expected to be read earlier than usual due to the forthcoming general election.

The other priority bill in the two houses of parliament will be the Elections [Amendment] Bill, 2022 which was introduced in the National Assembly.

The bill generated by Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) seeks to have alternative methods to be deployed to relay results where technology completely fails during the August 9th polls.

The bill has already attracted opposition from both sides of the political divide saying it will create room for irregularities.

However, IEBC says the contents of the bill had been distorted for unknown reasons.