Kalonzo urges House to pass Nadco Bills without amendments

Wiper leader Kalonzo Musyoka and ODM leader Raila Odinga. [File, Standard]

Wiper leader Kalonzo Musyoka has called on Members of Parliament to pass the four National Dialogue Committee (Nadco) Bills without amendments.

Speaking during a Citizens Legislative Conference at Ufungamano Hall in Nairobi on Thursday, Kalonzo lauded Senate Minority Leader Stewart Madzayo for raising the red flag on the alteration of the Nadco Bills.

He said that President William Ruto and Azimio leader Raila Odinga have a duty to whip their MPs to pass the Bills without any alteration since the committee spent a lot of time to come up with them.

“I would like to ask our two leaders President William Ruto and Azimio Leader Raila Odinga to whip Members of Parliament allied to their respective coalition so that they can approve the Bills as they were approved by the team that met at Bomas,” said Kalonzo.

The Wiper leader said that as the co-chairperson of Nadco team, they spent long hours listening to the religious leaders, business community and other stakeholders.

He said if elected president in 2027 he will scrap the  Housing levy and tackle corruption. Kalonzo argued that Kenyans were facing consequences of the choices they made in August 2022 and they should make the necessary changes when the time comes.

The Wiper leader challenged the Kenya Kwanza government to maintain Kenya’s positive non-alignment policy when dealing with other friendly nations to ensure that the citizens do not become collateral damage.

He said it was clear that there were several superpowers engaged in supremacy contests and it would not be wise for Kenya to appear to be siding with any one of them. “While I laud President Ruto’s bilateral engagements with the United States of America and other countries , our nation should be careful against making policies that will attract direct attacks by terrorists due to decisions that we could have avoided in the first place,” he said.

The Wiper leader said that Kenya had its first democratic elections 61 years ago with the history of Madaraka being sentimental in the liberation movement of the founding fathers to free the country from the colonial yoke and asked elected leaders to maintain the spirit.

He asked leaders to uphold integrity saying there is a worrying trend of some leaders making remarks which portray them as not being patriotic to the nation and they should take time to correct themselves.

Musyoka said when the history of Constitution making is written a chapter on the Ufungamano Hall cannot miss out since it played a key role for the opposition movement fighting for change in the country.

The former Vice President said during late President Mwai Kibaki tenure they strived to promote the middle class but they failed to vote in August 2022 and now they are overburdened with taxes and are facing the consequences of their choices.

“We have over 600 companies migrating from Kenya to Tanzania due to the harsh economic times, we are calling on the government to come up with measures that will address the issues leading to their migration which is detrimental to the economic wellbeing of the nation,” he said.

National Assembly Minority Leader Opiyo Wandayi said taxation and budget are key issues in the minds of Kenyans.

The Minority Leader revealed that out of the Nadco Bills only the IEBC Bill was nearing completion and asked Kenyans to be vigilant and put their legislators on toes so as to ensure that they expedite the process for the good of the country.

Wandayi said that in the past there has been a lot of gerrymandering over boundaries of constituencies and there was need to fast track amendment of the Constitution to accommodate the changes.

“We shall work with various stakeholders to ensure that the Nadco Bills are approved in Parliament in order to resolve the various issues that affect Kenyans, we are committed as legislators to ensure that we perform our role as is expected,” said Wandayi.

Registrar of Political Parties Anne Nderitu said the purpose of any law is to articulate the right of citizens and must adjust according to the circumstances saying that the IEBC should be left to deal with its officers rather than it being regulated under the Election Offences Amendment Bill.

“The Election Offences Amendment Bill says that an election official commits an offence by not posting election results within two hours after completion of vote counting exercise without considering the challenges those in far flung areas may be facing,” said Nderitu.