High Court certifies Parliament dissolution case urgent

High Court Judge Mumbi Ngugi has certified as urgent an appeal against Parliament’s extension of the dissolution period filed at the High Court on Monday by a Kenyan Citizen claiming to have voted in the constitution.

The appeal is seeking a court order to quash the resolution passed by the National Assembly to extend by a year the August 27^th deadline for passing key constitutional Bills.

In the same petition, Japheth Muroko stated that the act of extension of the time of Parliament on August 25^th was unlawful and should be declared null and void.

Muroko added that the purported extended Bills published by the Commission for the Implementation of the Constitution (CIC) and Parliament are not amongst the bills enumerated in the 5^th schedule.

Additionally, Muroko said the Provincial Administration officers continue to earn salaries which is a heavy burden to Kenyan tax payers. The case will be heard on September 8^th, 2015.

Muroko wants the court to declare that the National Assembly failed in its mandate of passing the Bills before August 27th and extending the timeline by a year.

He is also asking the High Court to declare that the Commission for the Implementation of the Constitution (CIC), the Attorney General and Parliament have altered the meaning of particular Bills as enumerated in the constitution, thereby misleading Kenyans.

On August 25^th, Members of Parliament extended by a year the Constitutional timelines to pass crucial pending Bills ahead of the August 27th deadline.

The House voted 260 against 11 for the motion to extend the 15 pending Bills, 12 of which are already before the House.

However, despite the full House after MPs were banned from foreign travel for a week, there were no enough numbers to move the Constitutional Amendment Bill seeking to hold elections in December instead of August.

Speaker Justin Muturi later said he would allow MPs to vote for the second time for the amendment Bill despite the constitutional requirement that requires a Bill that fails for lack of quorum be re-introduced in the House after six months.