Parliament passes constitutional amendments.

The Constitutional Amendments Bill
2015 has been overwhelmingly passed
by Parliament.
The Bill that has been
pending Parliament’s approval
because of lack of quorum was voted
for by 290 MPs, 33 opposed while 4
abstained.
The passing of this Bill now gives
leeway to legislators who were voted
to parliament as independents to
cross to parties of their choice.
The 11 clause Bill was passed with
amendments while other clauses
were deleted. Some of the key
clauses in the Constitutional
Amendment Bill 2015 are:
Clause 11 seeks to introduce a new
article to provide for the
establishment of a Salaries and
Remuneration Board that will be
responsible for determining all
salaries, allowances and benefits
from the Consolidated Fund including
MPs’ salaries. This will be a marked
change from the current regulations
which allow MPs to determine their
own salaries and allowances, a
regulation that some say has been
misused by the parliamentarians.
The MPs also seek to amend Article
72 to provide for members of political
parties who want to contest for
elections as independents to be
supported by the signatures of one
thousand registered voters.
An amendment to Article 60 of the
Constitution will change the name of
the Electoral Commission to the
Independent Electoral Commission.
and an amendment to Article 144 will
increase the retirement age for
judges from 70 to 75.