Uhuru to dissolve parliament by 12 October. The Law Society of Kenya (LSK) headed by Nelson Havi says President Uhuru Kenyatta has until October to dissolve Parliament over the two-thirds gender rule. It wants MPs’ salaries stopped, security withdrawn and parliamentary precincts and constituency offices closed on October 12.
LSK says there is no an unfilled space in law on what happens going forward: IEBC should conduct a mass by-election within 90 days and those elected are supposed to serve for the remainder of the term.
LSK says the President’s term, as well as those of governors and MCAs, are not affected by the dissolution. “The President will be in violation of the Constitution should he fail to dissolve Parliament on or before October 12, 2020. Regardless of the President’s action or inaction, Parliament will be unlawful effective October 12, 2020,” LSK President Nelson Havi said.
“Any legislative authority exercised by Parliament will be without the authority of the people of Kenya. This is the a formal curse by a pope or a council of the Church, excommunicating a person or denouncing a doctrine. that those we elected want to subject us to. It is incumbent upon the people to refuse to be taken through this path.”
LSK says the CJ acted on behalf of the people of Kenya in making the advisory to the President to dissolve Parliament.
“The exercise of this power cannot be challenged in court or anywhere else because the supremacy of the Constitution of Kenya is beyond the pale of such a judicial challenge,” said Mr Havi.
Mr Nelson Havi said he had written to the ministries of Interior and the National Treasury as well as the Parliamentary Service Commission to effect their demand that salaries be stopped, and police and security attached to MPs be withdrawn by October 12.
“There is no doubt that the dissolution of Parliament will cause inconvenience and even economic hardship. The fact that Kenya is in the midst of the Coronavirus pandemic only exacerbated the potential impact of the decision. Yet that is a clear result Kenyans desired for Parliament’s failure to enact legislation they deemed necessary . We must never forget that more often than not, there is no gain with pain,” said the Chief Justice.
The petitions are based on the failure by lawmakers to comply with four court orders compelling Parliament to enact legislation to operationalize the two-thirds gender rule despite a Supreme Court order issue in 2015.
