The Parliamentary Service Commission will move to Court to challenge Chief Justice David Maraga’s advisory to President Uhuru Kenyatta to dissolve Parliament over its failure to enact the two thirds gender rule. Speaking to the press on Tuesday, National Assembly Speaker Justin Muturi faulted CJ Maraga’s move, which has birthed mixed reactions from leaders. “The Commission regrets that the Chief Justice appears to be willing, even eager, to plunge the country into a constitutional crisis, without exercising wisdom and circumspection,” he said.
He stated that the PSC will move to the High Court, in its Constitutional mandate after a request from the Speakers of both houses. He affirmed that the issue will be resolved lawfully. “In the meantime, the Parliamentary Service Commission is convinced that the matter shall be resolved lawfully and calls for calm and sobriety in order to avert the kind of national anxiety and despondency that the action by the right honorable Chief Justice could elicit,” he said.
On Monday, in an advisory, CJ Maraga advised the President to dissolve Parliament, saying he has received six petitions on the failure to enact the two thirds gender rule. He noted that the dissolution of Parliament will cause inconvenience and economic hardship given that Kenya is grappling with the Coronavirus pandemic, but the pain shouldn’t be used as cover, “We must never forget that more often than not, there is no gain without pain….The carefully designed enforcement mechanism of dissolution of Parliament under Article 261(7) irrespective of its consequences is clearly the radical remedy Kenyans desired to incentivize the political elites to adhere to and fully operationalize the transformational agenda of the Constitution they bequeathed to themselves in 2010.”