The members of Parliament in the National Assembly processed a total of eighteen Bills by the time the House went on long recess last week, signaling what the House says are some of the milestones it has achieved in the last one year.
The eighteen Bills which have since been assented to into law by President William Ruto, form part of the 114 Bills that are at various stages of consideration by the House.
Among the Bills approved by the National Assembly include legislations relating to Climate Change, reforms in the health sector and government financing of priority projects.
One such Bill is the Finance Bill which was approved in June 2023, providing revenue raising measures by the government to facilitate the budget estimates for the 2023/24 financial year.
This passage of this legislation paved the way for the introduction of the controversial and now disputed housing levy to fund which was to facilitate the construction of affordable housing by the government. The legislation also increased the fuel levy to boost the fund ringfenced for fuel price stabilization.
The Appropriation Bill, 2023 and two Supplementary Appropriation Bills were also passed in June and November respectively. The two sought to provide funding for the government or reallocate funds to emergency efforts due to extreme drought and flooding incidents within the year.
The National Assembly also approved the Climate Change (Amendment) Bill which sought to amend the Climate Change Act, 2016 to provide for the regulation of carbon markets.
It also created and enhanced the mandate of several institutions responsible for regulation of the carbon markets. The enactment of the law now makes Kenya compliant with the Paris Agreement which Kenya ratified and became party to in 2016.
On the other hand, the amended National Government-Constituencies Development Fund (NG-CDF) Act also expanded the mandate of the fund to cater for projects such as climate mitigation.
Another notable development in the second session was the enactment of four health Sector Bills, two of which originated in the National Assembly. The Bills aimed at revolutionizing the healthcare sector.
The other two health Bills that originated in the Senate were the Facilities Improvement Financing Bill (Senate Bill No. 43 of 2023) and the Primary Health Care Bill (Senate Bill No. 44 of 2023). These were also passed in the National Assembly and assented to on October 19, 2023.
During the Session, the House also undertook vetting of fifty-three (53) nominees and approval of fifty-one (51) nominees to various state and public offices, including the Solicitor-General, the Director-General of the National Intelligence Service, the Director of Public Prosecutions and, the Governor and Deputy Governor of the Central Bank of Kenya.
Others include the chairperson of the Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission, chairperson of the Commission on Revenue Allocation, chairperson of the Board of the Central Bank of Kenya, the chairperson of the Kenya Fish Marketing Authority, Principal Secretaries, High Commissioners, Ambassadors and Permanent Representatives and Members of various Constitutional Commissions, Boards and Councils.
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