The National Assembly will consider a motion to withdraw the Public Transport (Motorcycle Regulation) Bill after a string of public concerns.
Speaker of the National Assembly, Moses Wetang’ula, informed Members of Parliament on Wednesday, April 23, that the Senate had formally requested Members of Parliament to stop further consideration of the controversial bill.
"I have received a letter from the Speaker of the Senate informing me that the sponsor of the bill in the Senate requests its withdrawal and cessation of further consideration," Wetangula said before the National Assembly.
The bill, which was sponsored by Kakamega Senator Boni Khalwale, was primarily meant to establish a regulatory framework for the use of Boda Boda at the county level.
Khalwale proposed the registration of boda bodas with the county government, installing tracking devices on motorcycles and riders having valid employment contracts with the owners of the motorbikes, among other regulatory measures.
Part of the reason the bill was so controversial was the hefty fines proposed by the senator. For instance, a Ksh20,000 penalty was proposed for anyone caught riding on a pedestrian walkway.
The senator also pushed for a Ksh100,000 fine or a one-year jail term for boda boda riders who collude with colleagues to harm another person.
Despite strong opposition from stakeholders, including Boda boda operators, the bill passed its first reading in the National Assembly on February 13, 2025.
Expectedly, public outcry on some provisions of the bill was loud, prompting Khalwale to urge the Speaker of the Senate to write to the National Assembly on his behalf.
“This request presents a novel procedural scenario, as this is the first time that such a request has been received in the bicameral processing of bills in the Houses of Parliament,” Speaker Wetang’ula noted.
Since the law does not explicitly allow for the withdrawal of a bill by a member of the Senate once it has entered consideration in the National Assembly, Wetangula invoked Standing Order 1, which allows him to give direction on matters which are not explicitly clear in the constitution.
In this regard, the National Assembly speaker directed that another motion to discharge the particular bill from second reading will have to be filed and subsequently moved by the chairperson of the Departmental Committee on Transport and Infrastructure, which had initially been assigned to review the bill.
If passed, the bill will be formally withdrawn from the National Assembly's agenda.
