Activists in Kisumu on Monday rejected the ongoing public participation on various bills by the Kisumu county assembly.
The assembly, through the acting clerk Owen Ojuok, over the weekend in an advert in the newspapers said 11 bills will be debated by the public in all the seven sub counties.
Transform Empowerment for Action Initiative (TEAM) executive director George Collins Owuor on Monday said there is no way 11 bills can be discussed in one and a half days. Owuor said the county assembly ought to have done the public participation about the bills for at least 35 days to cater for all the wards in the county.
He said public participation the county government act recognises the need for public involvement in such bills, adding that it should be done prudently to the satisfaction of the public.
Owuor said the MCAs should reject such moves by the clerk’s office adding that they were elected to be the watchdogs for the public.
He accused the interim Ojuok of misleading the county assembly with such acts adding that the assembly should hire a competent clerk to move the county forward. He urged governor Jack Ranguma not to sign the bills into law because due process has not been followed.
Some of the bills include the Kisumu County Trade Bill 2015, Kisumu County disaster and Emergencies Management Bill 2015, Kisumu County Trade and Markets Bill 2015 and Kisumu County Youth, Women and people living with disabilities funds Bill 2015 among others.