According to Jacob Oulanyah, Speaker of the 11th Parliament, any bill not signed by the president in the previous Parliament will be re-tabled for fresh discussions.
The Speaker of the 11th Parliament, Jacob Oulanyah has directed that all Bills passed by the 10th Parliament but not signed by the President will be re-tabled for fresh discussions.
Speaker Oulanyah took the decision during a plenary that he chaired jointly with his Deputy Anita Among.
He said Rule 235 of the Parliament’s Rules of Procedure provides that a Bill, petition or motion or other business before the House or committee lapses upon resolution of Parliament.
“Business of the 10th Parliament that remained incomplete lapsed when the term of Parliament ended. Any member or government who has desires of having business of the 10th Parliament that wasn’t completed by the end of that Parliament should have the business reintroduced in the House and the business shall begin afresh,” Oulanyah said.
Rule 203 of the legislative rules provide for a motion to continue with unfinished business of the previous parliament however according to Oulanyah, the manner in which such business comes to the 11th Parliament and the difficulty to track the timelines as required in our Rules of Procedure to execute these assignments is a limiting factor.
Relatively, he said the fresh review will allow the 11th parliament time to rethink the provisions provided in each bill and cite out any loopholes.
“Let us get busy with not merely business that regulate lives of people, but also facilitate the enjoyment of their rights. We can never determine when the President receives it yet the time starts running when we transmit. We should have a process that gives a clear timeline where it is given to the President and then the 30 days start running,” Oulanyah explained.
“With this guidance, I expect that Members shall continue to embrace the business of the House with enthusiasm and execute your roles with efficiency and effectiveness expected of us as MPs and urge the executive to introduce business as laid out in the Gov’t Legislative Agenda,” he added.
Meanwhile, some of the bills to be re-tabled include:
- The Succession Amendment Bill 2020,
- National Social Security Fund (NSSF) Bill,
- The Sexual Offences Bill, the Succession Bill,
- The National Health Insurance,
- The Fisheries Amendment Bill 2020,
- National Climate Change Bill 2020.
Others include the Estates of Missing Persons (Management) Amendment Bill 2019, Land Lord and Tenant Bill 2019, Marriage and Divorce Bill 2015, and the Anti-Slavery Bill 2020, Local Content Bill.
