The National Assembly has extended the period allowed for public participation in Deputy President Rigathi Gachagua’s impeachment by one day following the disruption witnessed in several centres across the country on Friday.
In his notice, the Clerk of the National Assembly directed all delegates to continue with the public participation on Saturday, October 5 across all the 290 constituencies and 47 counties.
“The 290 Constituency Offices and 47 County Women Representative Offices of all Members of the National Assembly, which are offices under the Parliamentary Service Commission, shall remain open on Saturday, October 5, from 8 am to 5 pm to facilitate further public participation in the Special Motion,” read part of the notice.
“Members of the public may submit their views relating to the special motion to the aforesaid respective constituency or County Women Representative Offices for onward transmission to the Office of the Clerk of the National Assembly,” the notice read further.
The extension follows numerous disruptions witnessed in some centres across the country. In some centres, scuffles ensued forcing the exercise to be suspended.
For instance, delegates attending the public participation at the Bomas of Kenya in Nairobi were forced to momentarily stop the activity after a group of rowdy residents engaged in wrangles. The goons invaded the venue and began throwing chairs at activist Morara Kebaso who had just arrived at the vicinity to participate in the exercise.
Similar events were witnessed in Murang’a, Nyeri, Kiambu and Nakuru where the exercises were brought to a halt just moments after they commenced.
In Nyeri, the residents protested the decision by the National Assembly to use papers instead of a biometric system, claiming the use of papers exposed the exercise to rigging.
The latest move also comes a day after the court ordered the National Assembly to dispense a second round of public participation in all 290 constituencies. This is after Kirinyanga Woman Representative Njeri Maina moved to court to challenge the adequacy and the effectiveness of the public engagement conducted at the county level.
The court deemed the public participation undertaken at the county level insufficient, and thus ordered an expanded public participation exercise to allow all Kenyans to express their opinion on the special motion.
“To be clear, the consequence of the orders of the Honourable Court is that the ongoing impeachment process cannot proceed until a proper public participation exercise led by each Member of Parliament in their respective constituencies is undertaken,” the woman representative commented after the court order.
