Stephen Mutungi, director of the Hansard Department at Kenya’s National Assembly, has taken some members of Ghana’s Parliamentary Press Corps through the process of how a bill survives in Kenya’s Parliament.
Addressing the media, Mutungi explained that when the Senate amends a bill passed by the National Assembly, the law provides for a structured process to reconcile the differences.
Under Kenya’s parliamentary procedure, both houses form a Mediation Committee made up of senators and members of the National Assembly.
“Most of the time they sit and agree on a version which is agreeable to both Houses,” Mutungi said.
He said that once an agreed version is reached, it is passed by both houses and forwarded for assent, adding that it is rare for the Mediation Committee to fail to agree.
He noted that even when there is heated debate in both chambers, consensus is eventually reached at mediation.
“They may make noise, but when it goes to mediation they will agree with it. And then they bring it back, they pass it in those Houses and it is assented to,” he said.
Kwaku Sakyi-Danso/EcowasNewsOnline.com
