Recalling your MP will instill discipline, Ogembo urges Kenyans
Disgruntled Kenyans have been urged to recall members of Parliament who failed to meet their expectations during the Finance Bill 2024 vote.
Speaking during an interview on a local station, Ken Ogembo, a Program Manager at Siasa Place said that recalling Members of Parliament is possible if Kenyans maintain the unity demonstrated during the protests, emphasizing that such a recall would instil discipline among the legislators.
“I would encourage young people, if your Member of Parliament did not meet your expectation then you have the right to start the process of recall, and if you do it how we did it this time round then possibly, that is going to instil discipline,” Ogembo said.
Ogembo’s comments come amid grumbling from Kenyans on online platforms who are mulling over recalling the legislators after parliament voted in favour of the controversial Finance Bill 2024 on Tuesday, June 25, 2024.
Parliament approved the controversial bill as protesters engaged police in running battles outside Parliament, in the streets of Nairobi, and in other towns to pressure the MPs to drop the bill.
Despite the announcement of the decision to abandon the controversial Finance Bill 2024, protesters still turned out in numbers on Thursday, June 27, 2024, engaging in battles with the police in a push for radical reforms within the government.
A continuing conversation headlining the protests has been the selfish and inconsiderate pose of parliamentarians who seemingly sided with the government to approve the contentious bill amid spirited opposition from thousands of protesters.
Angry protesters who labelled the legislators as sellouts stormed parliament shortly after the passage of the bill forcing MPs to scamper for their safety.
Recalling an MP
The process of recalling an MP is given for in the Constitution and the Elections Act under the following circumstances; gross violation of the Constitution or any other law, committing an offence under the Elections Act, misbehaviour likely to bring discredit to the office, or mismanagement of public funds by the MP.
The process of recalling an MP can be initiated by a registered voter in the respective constituency who has to collect signatures from at least 30% of the registered voters in the constituency.
The signatures which must include at least 15% of voters from at least half of the wards are then submitted to IEBC with evidence supporting the claims of recall and a statutory declaration satisfying the signatures for verification.
IEBC will then notify the Speaker of Parliament within 15 days of the verification of the petition and proceed to initiate the recall.
The Commission will then hold fresh elections within 90 days of the verification of the petition.
An MP can only be recalled two years after elections and 12 months before the next election.
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