The Justice and Legal Affairs Committee chaired by Hon. George Murugara(Tharaka), received submissions from the Office of the Attorney General (OAG) and the Department of Justice, in regards to the Conflict of Interest Bill (2023); a Bill for an Act of Parliament to provide for the management and regulation of conflict of interest in the discharge of official duties and connected purposes.

In their submissions, the OAG proposed that Clause 24 (2)(c) that requires the reporting authority of a reporting entity to maintain a register of conflict of interest in the prescribed manner, and to be open to the public for inspection be deleted. 

Further, they propose that the register should only be accessible to an applicant with a legitimate interest and a good cause in the furtherance of the objectives of the Act, or by relevant parties such as persons declaring such conflict of interest, the reporting authority and the commission. They argue that limiting access to the register ensures that the Commission is not burdened with frivolous requests for inspection of the register.

In addition, OAG proposes deletion of Clause 56 which states that every reporting entity shall file compliance reports with the Commission in the prescribed form, and substitute with a specific timeline of filing compliance reports within six (6) months after the end of the financial year; which will aid in implementation and enforcement of the Conflict of Interest legislation.

The Bill sponsored by the Leader of Majority Party Hon. Kimani Ichung’wah (Kikuyu) has previously received submissions from different stakeholders including the Judiciary, the Ethics and Anti-corruption Commission (EACC), Law Society of Kenya (LSK), Office of the Director of Public Prosecution (ODPP), Transparency International Kenya, Teachers Service Commission (TSC) and Mzalendo among others.