The Kirinyaga County Assembly has denied passing the Building Bridges Initiative (BBI) Bill.
Kirinyaga County Assembly Speaker Anthony Waweru said on Wednesday that the House is still on recess and will resume plenary on February 8.
Waweru did however confirm that the assembly had received the Bill but was yet to consider it.
“The County Assembly of Kirinyaga has not considered the Constitutional amendment Bill 2020 (BBI),” he said.
“The County Assembly of Kirinyaga shall in consultation with the people of Kirinyaga and within the confines of the law consider the Constitutional Amendment Bill and submit its decisions to the Speaker of the Senate and the Speaker of the National Assembly as guided by section 257(6) of the constitution of Kenya.”
Read: IEBC Verifies 1.1 Million BBI Signatures Paving Way For Next Stage
On Monday, IEBC paved the way for the Bill to be tabled in the county assemblies after it verified 1.14 million signatures in support of the report.
“As at 19th January 2021, the Commission had been able to digitize 1,715,386 records which were subjected to verification exercise involving completeness and validity checks of the individual records; elimination of duplicate records; and finally matching the clean records with the register of voters, ” said Wafula Chebukati, the IEBC Chairman.
“…The verification exercise confirmed that the initiative has been supported by 1,140,845 registered voters. This is, therefore, to notify stakeholders and the general public that the Initiative has met the requisite threshold as provided in Article 257 (4) of the Constitution of Kenya, 2010.”
Assemblies have three months (90 days) to consider the Bill.
Read Also: Raila Drums Up Support For BBI In Githurai, Promises Gov’t Will Address Resident Needs
According to Article 257 (7) of the 2010 Constitution, If a county assembly approves the draft Bill, the speaker of the county assembly shall deliver a copy of the draft Bill jointly to the Speakers of the two Houses of Parliament, with a certificate that the county assembly has approved it.
The Constitution further stipulates that If a draft Bill is approved by a majority of the county assemblies, it shall be introduced in Parliament without delay.
A Bill under this Article is passed by Parliament if supported by a majority of the members of each House.
“If Parliament passes the Bill, it shall be submitted to the President for assent in accordance with Articles 256 (4) and (5), ” Article 257(9) reads.
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