National Assembly (NA) Speaker Moses Wetangula on Tuesday, January 17, committed to reaching out to his predecessor Justin Muturi over a plan to change the constitution.
Wetangula remarked that there was a need to change the constitution to accommodate the East African Legislative Assembly (EALA) Kenyan members in the Parliamentary Service Commission (PSC).
The amendment will also see EALA MPs receive perks that are enjoyed by their counterparts in National Assembly.
“I have hosted the newly elected Kenya EALA members where we discussed a series of issues.
“I committed to the members to engage Attorney General Justin Muturi to deliberate on a constitutional amendment to incorporate them into PSC,” Wetangula stated.
As members of PSC, EALA members will be able to deliberate issues that affect the Kenyan Parliament as well as constitutional offices.
The Kenyan EALA MPs will provide services and facilities to ensure Parliament's efficient and effective running.
They will also take part in constituting offices in the Parliamentary service and appointing and supervising office holders.
Apart from being part of the powerful PSC, the EALA MPs also sought from Wetangula perks enjoyed by senators and parliamentarians.
They requested to be allocated fully funded offices in Nairobi as well as a car mortgage and travel allowance.
EALA MP Suleiman Shahbal was optimistic after the meeting with Wetangula that the issues they raised would be taken care of.
“We discussed among other issues the need to spearhead unity of the East African region and focus on policies that will improve our regional trade ties,” an optimistic Shahbal stated after the meeting.
