#ParliamentToday: Lower House to debate three bills ahead of dissolution

The Lower House is today debating three Bills as it wraps up business ahead of elections in December.

The three bills are the Somali Agricultural Research Services Bill, Registration and Identity Agency  Bill and the National Audit Bill. The first two bills are proceeding to the second reading.

The National Audit Bill was referred to the Lower House mid this year by the Upper House following amendments. Sources at the Upper House have decried the manner in which their counterparts in the Lower Hous have handled the bill.

Sources said both the executive and the Lower House had purged the bill and reduced the office of the Auditor-General into a department within the executive structure robbing it of independence. The amendments introduced by the Upper House sought to reinstate articles compromised when the bill was handed over to the executive and subsequently the Lower House . The bill was drafted through donor support.