Kenya's parliament to challenge dissolution bid over lack of women
Source: Dev Discourse
Justin Muturi, speaker of the National Assembly and chairman of the Parliamentary Service Commission, said Maraga's advisory was unconstitutional, while organisations that pushed for the petition called it an unprecedented test of Kenyan law. "The Commission regrets that the chief justice appears to be willing, even eager, to plunge the country into a constitutional crisis without exercising the wisdom and circumspection that is expected of the high office that he holds," Muturi told a news conference.
Kenya's parliament will launch a legal challenge to a bid by the country's top judge to dissolve both legislative houses for not having enough women lawmakers, the speaker said on Tuesday, calling the move ill-advised, premature and unlawful.
Chief Justice David Maraga on Monday advised President Uhuru Kenyatta to dissolve the male-dominated parliament, saying lawmakers had failed to meet a 2010 constitutional provision which allows for one-third of seats to be occupied by women. Women hold 22% of seats in the country's lower house of parliament, and 31% in the upper house.
Under Kenyan law, once parliament is dissolved, elections must take place within 90 days. Justin Muturi, speaker of the National Assembly and chairman of the Parliamentary Service Commission, said Maraga's advisory was unconstitutional, while organisations that pushed for the petition called it an unprecedented test of Kenyan law.
Click here to read the full article published by Dev Discourse on 22 September 2020.
Justin Muturi, speaker of the National Assembly and chairman of the Parliamentary Service Commission, said Maraga's advisory was unconstitutional, while organisations that pushed for the petition called it an unprecedented test of Kenyan law. "The Commission regrets that the chief justice appears to be willing, even eager, to plunge the country into a constitutional crisis without exercising the wisdom and circumspection that is expected of the high office that he holds," Muturi told a news conference.
Kenya's parliament will launch a legal challenge to a bid by the country's top judge to dissolve both legislative houses for not having enough women lawmakers, the speaker said on Tuesday, calling the move ill-advised, premature and unlawful.
Chief Justice David Maraga on Monday advised President Uhuru Kenyatta to dissolve the male-dominated parliament, saying lawmakers had failed to meet a 2010 constitutional provision which allows for one-third of seats to be occupied by women. Women hold 22% of seats in the country's lower house of parliament, and 31% in the upper house.
Under Kenyan law, once parliament is dissolved, elections must take place within 90 days. Justin Muturi, speaker of the National Assembly and chairman of the Parliamentary Service Commission, said Maraga's advisory was unconstitutional, while organisations that pushed for the petition called it an unprecedented test of Kenyan law.
Click here to read the full article published by Dev Discourse on 22 September 2020.