The Kenya Law reform Commission was today honored to host members of the Justice and Legal Affairs Committee from Kakamega County Assembly at our Nairobi offices. Led by the chairperson Mr. Edward Indimuli and Deputy Speaker Mr. Abdi Mohamed; the committee`s courtesy call sought to understand the mandate of the commission and how they could benefit from the experience and mandate as regards policy and county legislation.
The committee addressed legislation and development concerns facing counties such as the quality of legislations, attitudes and cultural practices at governance levels, awareness and knowledge on powers and functions of the County Assemblies and County Executives as well as budget ceilings, selection criteria among other constraints.
Group Photo 2
Chair Photo
Mr Peter Musyimi following proceedings
Deputy speaker 2 contributions
Meeting in progress 2
Speaking during the event Doreen Muthaura (Vice Chairperson, KLRC) welcomed the gesture which she termed as timely and noble. While highlighting the mandate of the Commission she emphasized on partnerships, involvement and consultation with county Governments at early stages of legislative processes to ensure that devolution works. These partnerships included requests for capacity building, trainings, and advisory opinion where applicable.
Some of the recommendations emerging from the meeting included:
- Constant communication and sharing of information between the commission and the county governments and assemblies
- Creation of convenient means of public engagement at all stages of policy legislations
- Identification and involvement of relevant partners and all stakeholders in the legislative process
- Building capacity of county assemblies, citizens and stakeholders for an enhanced development conscious law reform process that guarantees service delivery.
The Kenya Law reform Commission is a constitutional commission mandated by the Constitution of Kenya 2010 (CoK 2010) which under Clause 5(6) (b) of Sixth Schedule requires the Commission to coordinate with the Attorney-General (AG) and Commission for the Implementation of the Constitution (CIC) to prepare for tabling in Parliament legislation required to implement the CoK 2010. Other functions are to “keep under review all the law of Kenya to ensure its systematic development and reform, including in particular the integration, unification and codification of the law, the elimination of anomalies, the repeal of obsolete and unnecessary enactments and generally its simplification and modernization”.