The Statutory Instruments (Amendment) Bill, 2026
Status Timeline
Proposed
Active now
Public Review
Pending
Debate
Pending
Executive
Pending
Final
Pending
New 12-Month Deadline for Regulatory Instruments
Where enabling legislation does not specify a timeline, regulation-making authorities must draft and make the required statutory instruments within 12 months from the date the enabling Act commences. If multiple categories of instruments are required, this deadline applies separately to each category.
Mandatory Annual Compliance Reporting to Parliament
Every regulation-making authority must submit an annual compliance report to Parliament by March 31st each year. This report must disclose:
- Statutory instruments made during the preceding year in compliance with the 12-month rule
- Outstanding statutory instruments and the specific reasons for their delay
- Projected timelines for completing outstanding instruments
Ethical Sanctions under the Leadership and Integrity Act
If Parliament considers an annual report and passes a resolution directing an authority to complete outstanding regulations, the authority must comply within a specified period not exceeding one year. Failure to comply with this parliamentary resolution constitutes a breach of the general code of conduct and ethics under the Leadership and Integrity Act (Cap 185C) for State officers.
Eighteen-Month Grace Period for Existing Regulatory Backlogs
The Bill introduces a transitional requirement forcing authorities to make any outstanding statutory instruments required under existing Acts of Parliament within 18 months from the date this Amendment Act comes into force.
Bill No.
Senate Bills No. 11
Gazette No.
Supplement No. 171
Sponsor
Wakili Hillary Sigei
Background
Many Acts of Parliament in Kenya remain partially or wholly ineffective for years because designated regulation-making authorities delay or fail to make the required subsidiary legislation (statutory instruments) necessary for implementation. This Bill seeks to address this governance gap by establishing default statutory timelines, enhancing annual reporting to Parliament, and establishing consequences for non-compliance.
Key Amendments
The Bill amends Section 26 of the Statutory Instruments Act (Cap. 2A) by inserting a new Section 26A. This section introduces:
- A default timeline of 12 months for making statutory instruments where the parent Act is silent.
- Separate timeline tracks for distinct categories of statutory instruments required under a single parent Act.
New Obligations
Regulation-making authorities are subjected to new transparency and progress-tracking obligations:
- Annual Reporting: Authorities must submit an annual report to Parliament by 31st March every year detailing compliance, delays, reasons for lag, and projected completion dates.
- Enforcement of Parliamentary Resolutions: If ordered by a parliamentary resolution, authorities must complete outstanding statutory instruments within a specified timeline of no more than one year.
Penalties
- If a State officer in charge of a regulation-making authority fails to comply with a parliamentary resolution to complete outstanding regulations within the directed timeframe, this failure constitutes a breach of the general code of conduct and ethics under the Leadership and Integrity Act (Cap 185C).
Transitional Provisions
- For all existing, enacted legislation where required statutory instruments have not yet been completed, regulation-making authorities are mandated to draft and implement them within 18 months of this Amendment Act coming into force.
No updates tracked yet
Updates will be visible here once they are approved and applied to this bill.