House team rejects Nadco’s bid to extend senators term

A joint Parliamentary committee has rejected the proposal by the National Dialogue Committee to extend the term of senators to seven years.

In a report tabled in the Senate and the National Assembly, the Justice and Legal Affairs Committee said the move would be unconstitutional.

“Altering the term and date of election of members of the Senate would require a complete overhaul of the constitution,” the report states.

The joint panel was co-chaired by Bomet Senator Hillary Sigei and Tharaka MP George Murugara.

The reports have been tabled in the two Houses for consideration.

Nadco recommended radical amendments to the constitution to increase the term of the Senate from the current five to seven years.

Specifically, the proposed amendments to Articles 101 and 102 on the election of members of Parliament and the term of Parliament, respectively, to include the term of the Senate.

This implies that the country would hold a general election every five years for President, Members of the National Assemblies, Members of county assemblies and governors and hold Senate elections every seven years.

The committee said this would be an expensive undertaking for the economy to sustain.

“The committee observed that conducting two general elections would further escalate the cost of elections, noting that the cost of elections in Kenya was already among the highest in the world,” the report states.

Additionally, Nadco did not provide sufficient justification for the proposal to increase the term of the Senate.

“Implementation of the proposal would create significant legal, practical and legal administration,” the panel said.

They argued that the constitution envisaged one general election, as stipulated in Articles 90 (3), 98 (2) and 136 (2).

The Articles provide for the allocation of political party list seats, the election of Senators representing the youth and persons with disabilities and the election of the President, respectively .

“The committee further observed that the proposal touched on the sovereignty of the people and would thus need to be subjected to a referendum, in accordance with Articles 255 and 256 (5) of the constitution.”

President William Ruto and opposition leader Raila Odinga formed the dialogue committee following the post-election street protests by the opposition in 2023.

The violent demonstrations had rocked several parts of the country for weeks, hitting the economy, which was recovering from the elections.

Nadco was co-chaired by Wiper leader Kalonzo Musyoka and National Assembly Majority leader Kimani Ichung’wa.

Besides extending the term of the Senate, Nadco proposed the establishment of the office of official opposition, creation of the office of the Prime Minister and anchoring the constitution of several funds.

Nadco wants the PM nominated and appointed by the President upon approval by the National Assembly.

They include the Senate Oversight Fund, National Government Constituency Development Fund and National Government Affirmative Action Fund.

However, the Nadco report has been lying in the Senate for several months.