Nairobi — Garsen MP Danson Mungatana has suspended a Bill that seeks to put Kenya's anti-graft watchdog under the office of the Attorney General in a move, he says, would make it function better.

Mr Mungatana disclosed on Monday he had held meetings with Attorney-General Amos Wako, Director of Public Prosecutions Keriako Tobiko, officials of the Law Society of Kenya and the Kenya Anti-Corruption Commission in an effort to make the Bill better.

A letter from the chairman of the Committee of Experts on the Constitution, asking him to suspend debate on the Bill, appeared to have been the real reason for its shelving.

CoE chairman Nzamba Kitonga's letter to Mr Mungatana asks him to put the Bill on hold "to allow you to reflect on the provisions in the Harmonised Draft Constitution ...and which may help inform your view regarding the proposed Bill."

The draft constitution seen by the Nation says KACC's advisory board will be dissolved when the new laws are enacted, with its head, the director, serving the remaining period on their term.

The draft law proposes the creation of the Integrity and Anti-Corruption Commission. The Garsen MP said he had written to House Speaker Kenneth Marende, who is the head of the House Business Committee, "not to prioritise the listing of the Bill and to put it in abeyance to allow for other consultations."

The Bill went through the first reading last Tuesday and debate would have started on it after the second reading. Monday's move means MPs will have to wait for it to be redrafted and then introduced in Parliament again.

"It can be brought back any time but let us wait and see what is in the draft constitution when it comes out. The law will give KACC bigger teeth than you can imagine," said Mr Mungatana.

The draft will officially be released to the public at a ceremony at Kenyatta International Conference Centre at 10am on Tuesday, with Kenyans then having 30 days to submit their views on the document.