Ndaragwa MP Francis Waweru Nderitu has defended
his parliamentary colleagues over the shooting down of the two-thirds gender rule bill in Parliament last week.
He said passing the proposed law would have raised the wage bill at a time when the majority
of Kenyans are grappling high cost of living.
The MP said the National Assembly is already over-represented, hurting contributions in the August House.
“We therefore recommend for a lean Parliament,
where contributions on the floor of the House are felt and where the majority of MPs
get an opportunity to speak,” Nderitu said.
He said increasing the number of
parliamentarians under the guise of raising the number of women in the House as
required by the two-thirds gender rule, would mean overburdening the taxpayer.
On Thursday last week, the assembly failed to
pass the bill after the majority of MPs voted against it. Some MPs opted to stay away.
Speaking to the press in his Ndaragwa constituency on Tuesday, the MP said criticised Cord over its continued threats to storm the Independent and
Electoral Boundaries Commission in a bid to eject commissioners from office.
The lawmaker said the Cord leadership should find other ways to remove the commissioners, instead of taking to the street and inciting Kenyans.
