President William Ruto on Tuesday faulted Treasury CS Njuguna Ndung’u over the composition of the Pending Bills Verification Committee.
Speaking during the launch of the committee at State House, President Ruto said the committee was unconstitutional as it did not meet the two-thirds gender threshold.
“When I looked at the composition of the committee it was clear to me that it was unconstitutional because it lacked gender balance there are only four women out of a whole committee of twenty,” said Ruto.
The president asked CS Ndung’u to either reduce the number of men in the committee or increase the number of women to meet the two-thirds gender rule.
“I respectively suggest Mr. Minister that you either reduce the number of men or you add the number of women so that it is constitutional. I think it’s time we begin to live in accordance with the principles of the constitution,” Ruto added.
The Pending Bills Verification Committee will be chaired by former Auditor General Edward Ouko who has been tasked with auditing the government’s pending bills that have accrued between 2005 and 2022.
The Committee will include the Attorney General, as well as officials from the State Departments of Roads, Public Works, Housing and Urban Development, and the Public Procurement Regulatory Authority.
The team will also include representatives from the Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission, the Law Society of Kenya, the Institute of Engineers of Kenya, and the Institute of Certified Public Accountants of Kenya.
Geoffrey Malombe and Olivier Karori will be joint sectaries in the Pending Bills Committee.
After concluding its mandate the Ouko-led committee will then submit an interim report to CS Ndung’u including a mechanism to stop future pending bills.
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