From left: Cord Senators Omar Hassan, Moses Wetang'ula, Boni Khalwale
and James Orengo after the special sitting of the Senate on December 30,
2014. Speaker Ekwee Ethuro declined to allow debate on
constitutionality of the Security Laws (Amendment) Act, 2014 saying
courts must be allowed to conclude the matter. PHOTO | EVANS HABIL |
NATION MEDIA GROUP
Speaker Ekwee Ethuro Tuesday evening stopped the Senate from
debating the Security Laws (Amendment) Act, 2014, thwarting an attempt
by the Opposition Cord to have the controversial laws declared
unconstitutional.
Mr Ethuro spared the Jubilee
administration the embarrassment of having the contested Act added to
the list of laws that the Senate wants to challenge at the Supreme
Court.
The laws were passed by the National Assembly on
December 18, 2014 amid acrimony and chaotic scenes that left several
legislators injured.
The Ethics and Anti-Corruption
Commission said it would investigate some of those involved in the chaos
and recommend that they be declared unfit to hold public office.
Tuesday’s
Special Sitting of the Senate was held after a demand by Minority
Leader Moses Wetang’ula whose coalition, Cord, has also challenged the
laws in court. A ruling on the case will be delivered on Friday.
THREE HOURS DEBATE
Mr
Ethuro allowed senators three hours to debate the preliminary question
of whether the House should discuss a matter that was already in court.
He
ruled that since some Cord senators had gone to court to challenge the
law, then they had no choice but to await the conclusion of the legal
process.
“It is the same of us who are also in court.
Let’s exhaust one process. We as a House have fought very hard to ensure
we are recognised. Let us give the court the opportunity to conclude
this matter. This matter can still be revisited. We can still bring
amendments ourselves. We are a law making body,” the Speaker said.
However, Mr Wetang’ula challenged the ruling which he said was bad on the basis that “no one here is a litigant in the case.”
“My
worst fears came to pass that the deliberate prolongation of the point
of order raised by the distinguished Senator for Tharaka-Nithi was in
fact a conspiratorial process to make it difficult for this Motion to be
debated in this House,” he said.
He concluded by saying: “You may have your way today. You may not always have your way.”
Outside
the House, Mr Wetang’ula and Siaya Senator James Orengo declared Mr
Ethuro “a Jubilee stooge” and accused him of conspiring with the
Executive to stifle debate.
They said Cord members would meet after the court’s decision on Friday to chart the way forward.
Murang’a County Senator Kembi Gĩtura said the pleadings in court and Cord’s Motion in the Senate were similar.
“Supposing
the Senate was to make the resolution today that what was done by the
National Assembly was unconstitutional and the court said a different
thing. What would prevail? Let us allow the court to make a decision on
Friday first and then we can make our decision as a Senate,” said Mr
Gitura, who is also the Deputy Speaker, said.
And Mr
Kiraitu Murungi (Meru, APK) said: “Our hands were tied because we were
prohibited by the standing orders to proceed with this Motion.”
In
his contribution on the floor of the House, Mr Murungi said discussing
the matter would be contrary to the agreement that the Senate had
reached with the Judiciary for mutual respect.
REFRRED TO MARENDE RULINGS
During
the earlier three-hour debate in the House, most senators referred to
rulings by former National Assembly Speaker Kenneth Marende, who had
allowed Parliament to proceed with debate on matters that were already
in court.
Shortly after the preliminaries of the
sitting had started, Majority Leader Kithure Kindiki challenged the
validity of the Motion on the basis that the matter was “squarely,
actively and directly before a court”.
“When I look in
this hallowed chamber of the Senate, I see colleagues who are
representing the matter as counsel. We are setting a dangerous
precedent. We are setting up this Senate to ridicule,” he said.
He
was carrying certified copies of the proceedings including the
certificate of urgency, notice of motion and the petition filed by Cord.
However,
Mr Wetang’ula argued that the Motion was not meant to discuss the court
case but the law passed by the National Assembly.
He
also referred to a book on parliamentary practice authored by Esrkine
May which he said argued that matters of national importance can be
exempted from the sub judice rule.
“We are discussing matters of national security. We are not seeking to influence the court’s decision,” he said.
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