MPs to consider Senate request for withdrawal of motorcycle Bill

The National Assembly will consider a Motion to withdrawal of the Public Transport (Motorcycle Regulation) Bill (Senate Bill No. 38 of 2023), following a formal request by the Senate, prompted by public concerns over the Bill’s contents.

In a communication delivered to the House on Wednesday, April 23, 2025, the Speaker of the National Assembly, Moses Wetang’ula, informed Members that the Senate had formally requested the cessation of further consideration of the Bill, which had been sponsored by the Senator for Kakamega County, Sen. (Dr.) Boni Khalwale.

“I have received a letter from the Speaker of the Senate informing that the sponsor of the Bill, in the Senate, requests its withdrawal and cessation of further consideration. In the letter dated 7th March 2025, the Speaker of the Senate conveys the request, noting that the Senator for Kakamega County cited widespread public outcry regarding some of the provisions of the Bill,” stated Wetang’ula.

The Bill, which seeks to introduce a regulatory framework for the use of motorcycles—commonly known as Bodabodas—at the county level, had already been read a First Time in the National Assembly on 13th February 2025 and committed to the Departmental Committee on Transport and Infrastructure.

The Speaker noted that this was an unprecedented scenario.
“This request presents a novel procedural scenario as this is the first time that such a request has been received in the bicameral processing of Bills in the Houses of Parliament,” he stated.

Wetang’ula noted that current Standing Orders do not expressly provide for the withdrawal of a Bill by a Member who is not from the National Assembly. “It is therefore evident, Honourable Members, that the current provisions of the Standing Orders do not contemplate the withdrawal of a Bill other than by the sponsor,” he stated, referencing Standing Order 140(1).

To address the procedural gap, the National Assembly Speaker invoked Standing Order 1, which permits the Speaker to determine matters not expressly provided for, guided by the Constitution, statute law, and established parliamentary practice.

Drawing from comparative practices in the UK and India, Wetang’ula explained that in similar bicameral systems, the withdrawal of a Bill already under consideration in the second House requires a formal Motion.

Wetang’ula guided, “the matter shall be considered by the House by way of a Motion to discharge the particular Bill from Second Reading, notice of which will be given, and the Motion moved by the Chairperson of the Departmental Committee on Transport & Infrastructure, being the Committee seized of the Bill.”

He further directed that the House Business Committee (HBC) shall schedule the Motion in the Order Paper at a time it deems appropriate.
The House will then consider whether or not to approve the discharge of the Bill.

“Should the House approve the Motion, the Bill shall be deemed to have been withdrawn from the National Assembly, and the Departmental Committee on Transport & Infrastructure shall cease further consideration of the Bill,” the Speaker directed.