Members of the civil society in Kisumu have presented a petition to the County Assembly of Kisumu seeking to have the Kisumu County Public Participation Bill 2014 signed into law.
Under the umbrella of Kisumu County Public Participation Partners Forum, the CSOs also want the Bill gazetted once it has been enacted into law.
On Tuesday, KCPPPF chairman Edward Ogolla who presented the petition, said as CSOs, they are concerned that since the Public Participation Bill was passed by the assembly, it has never been signed into law.
Ogolla said the Bill was passed on August 4, 2014 and Governor Jack Ranguma was supposed to assent to it within 14 days so that it becomes law or returns it back to the assembly with amendments.
“What the law requires is that the Governor assents to it into law within a stipulated time or returns it with some amendments. But nothing has been done and we are past the 14 days,” he said.
Addressing a press conference in Kisumu, Ogolla said they are demanding the gazettment of the law failure to which they will be forced to seek legal redress.
He said Kisumu residents are not being involved in crucial processes such as budget making or enacting various laws.
Ogolla noted that a resident might move to court to challenge the laws passed by the assembly since they lacked public participation.