President Kibaki on Monday passed into law a record 30 bills
only a few hours before the life of the Tenth Parliament came to an end.
Twenty of the bills are dated 2012 while the rest
are dated 2013. This is the largest number of laws to have been assented
to in a single day since independence.
Interestingly, the President signed into law a
bill giving him a hefty retirement send off package but rejected a
second one that accorded MPs and other state officers almost similar
comfort in retirement.
He passed the Presidential Retirement Benefits
Amendment Bill 2013 but rejected the Retirement Benefits (Deputy
President and Designated State Officers) Bill 2013.
The rejected bill had caused uproar among Kenyans and civil society, even precipitating a public protest on Monday.
Among the provisions of the rejected bill were
state funerals for former MPs, diplomatic passports for the legislators
and their spouses, access to VIP lounges in major airports and a Sh9.3
million winding up allowance.
The president also rejected the Climate Change Bill (2012).
Among the crucial bills that were approved were
those that are key in the transition to devolved government. They are
the Transition County Allocation of Revenue Bill 2012, the Transition
County Appropriation Bill 2013, the County Governments Public Finance
Management Transition Bill 2013, the National Government Co-ordination
Bill 2012 and the Constituencies Development Bill 2012.
Source: Daily Nation
Source: Daily Nation
