Key government parastatals and agencies could be forced to operate without boards for the time being following a dispute over appointment of members.

It follows Leader of Majority in the National Assembly Amos Kimunya’s move to withdraw two crucial bills which sought to entrench the Executive’s grip in key agencies in the roads and health sectors.

Intense lobbying by civil engineers forced the National Assembly Speaker Justin Muturi to stand down the controversial Kenya Roads (Amendment) Bill 2021, which is seeking to have non-engineers hold the position of director-general in roads authorities.

Last week, Kimunya was forced to withdraw the Health Laws (Amendment) Bill that seeks to amend the 15 laws under the Health sector which give the President the leeway to appoint chairpersons of professional bodies.

MPs opposed to the Bill objected that the Health Committee of the National Assembly had not conducted proper public participation on the Bill as per its report before the House.

Transport committee

The Roads Bill, sponsored by the National Assembly Transport committee chair David Pkosing (Pokot South), wants to amend Sections 13 and 14 of the Kenya Roads Act of 2007, on the term of office of the DG and qualifications.

Pkosing asked the Speaker to stand down the bill, which was in its Third Reading to allow stakeholders to further deliberate on contentious issues in the bill.

“I stood down the bill for the stakeholders to come up with a compromised ground.

The contentious area is whether the holder of the DG’s office must have other competencies to qualify,” Pkosing told People Daily.

Yesterday Kikuyu MP Kimani Ichungw’a said the two Bills were destined to fail since they were unconstitutional in nature.

“We have told Kimunya that we will shoot down the two Bills since they are giving the government control of key sectors which means that they will not be open to scrutiny either by Parliament or the Auditor General,” warned Ichungw’a.

MPs argue that the Health Laws (Amendment) Bill seeks to have various boards of parastatals in the health sector controlled by the government without any representatives from the private sector, not even the medical practitioners.

“This implies that the passage of the Bill in its current form implies that the government shall be running the health management boards without any checks and balances,” said Aden Duale (Garissa Township).

The Roads Bill was to be amended to open doors for a person with a post-graduate degree either in accounts, finance, and management from a recognised university be allowed to lead the different road agencies.

In its report, the Transport Committee argues that it is high time the DG’s position is opened to other professions to manage the agency with the technical work being left to the juniors.

The Institute of Engineers of Kenya (IEK) had protested the requirement terming it retrogressive as it will allow non engineers to run the office which is more of technical than other areas.

“My amendment in the bill is to allow holders of the office of the DG to be holder of other competencies other than civil engineer,” Pkosing said.

He added; “I expect the stakeholders to deliberate and come up with a compromised position during the one month will be on recess.”

Last week MPs successfully forced the withdrawal of the Health Laws (Amendment) Bill which was in its Second reading.

State foothold

The Bill seeks to allow the Attorney General and Treasury representatives to sit in all the agencies, which according to the MPs will give the State a foothold in their operations.

Kimunya has been pushing for the Bill to be passed in its current form but after reading the mood of the members opted to stand it down for more consultations.

The Roads Bill seeks to extend the term of the bosses of three roads authorities, namely the Kenya National Highway Authorities (Kenha), Kenya Urban Roads Authority (KURA) and the Kenya Rural Roads Authority (Kerra).

The controversial bill seeks to extend the terms of the DGs of the authorities from the current three to five years.

“The Director-General shall hold office for a term of three years and shall be eligible for appointment for one more term,” reads the current Act in part.

While Kenha DG Peter Mundinia has since retired, his two colleagues in Kura and Kerra, Cyrus Kinoti and Philemon Kandie respectively are likely beneficiaries.

“There is no way you will tell a doctor to come and supervise engineering work. This is a technical field that requires someone skilled with matters to do with engineering.

MPs, James Nyikal (Seme) and his Endebes colleague Robert Pukose faulted the Bill and urged the House to reject it.