Parliament has once again come under sharp focus on how it treats its committees' reports implicating senior government officials amid claims that it has turned into “a rescue centre” for top officials accused of graft.
MPs are divided on whether an outside hand is influencing what has become a trend where the bicameral House rejects or water down with amendments explosive Committee reports.
Some insist Parliament is just carrying out its constitutional mandate.
National Assembly’s majority whip Benjamin Washiali told the Star the rejection of the reports is in line with the President Uhuru Kenyatta’s caution against “vigilante justice” in dealing with those implicated in graft.
President Kenyatta justifying why he failed to kick out graft suspects from his government said the cornerstone of Kenya’s democracy is the rule of law and the principle of due process.
“By parliament changing reports does not exempt legally mandated bodies from proceeding with their investigations. At the Parliament level, we can only recommend. We cannot claim to have prosecuted and found one guilty,” said the Mumias East MP.
Some of the reports that have implicated top government officials and which did not see the light of the day include the report on contraband sugar, the controversial Ruaraka land report and the recent Public Accounts Committee recommendations on IEBC.
Late last year MPs also threw out a joint report by Agriculture and Trade committees on the importation of contraband sugar.
The effectively rescued Cabinet secretaries Henry Rotich (Treasury), Adan Mohamed (EAC) and former Agriculture CS Willy Bett who were implicated in the sugar importation scam.
The Committee had recommended that each were to bear responsible responsibility for flooding the country with contraband sugar.
The Senate in November last year in a similar fashion also rescued top government officials implicated in the Sh 3.3 billion Ruaraka land report from possible ouster by absconding a sitting to deny the House the requisite numbers.
The report compiled by CPAC chaired by Homabay Senator Moses Kajwang’ had recommended that Interior Cabinet Secretary Fred Matiang’i and Education PS Belio Kipsang be held responsible and prosecuted if found guilty for the loss of Sh 1.5 billion.
Also implicated by Kajwang’s team were the National Lands Commission chairman Muhamad swazuri and vice chairperson Abigael Mbagaya.
Last month, PAC ‘s attempt to kick out remaining IEBC Commissioners Wafula Chebukati (chairman) and commissioners Abdi Guliye and Boya Molu from office over claims of misappropriating of taxpayers' money during the 2017 General Election.
Tongaren MP Eseli Simiyu - a member of the oversight PAC committee – concurred that Parliament had been influenced to doctor reports to save some Cabinet Secretaries implicated in the damning report.
He, however, defended the rejection of PAC’s report on IEBC Commissioners saying the Committee chaired by Ugunja MP Opiyo Wandayi committed illegality in trying to kick out the Commissioners through the backdoor.
“In some instances, some vested interest have influenced the House. In some instances there has been breach of law like in the case of PAC report where purported want to remove Commissioners of IEBC when it is clear that when you want to remove Commissioners a Tribunal has to be formed so it is something about legality of what was being perpetuated by PAC,” said the Tongaren lawmaker.
“But a lot of time, you find that watchdog reports on sensitive matters I tend to perceive there is some outside influence,” he added.
Molo MP Francis Kimani admitted that local interest have been at play when sensitive reports are conversed in Parliament but was quick to indicate that the law mandates the House to either approve, amend or reject in total any recommendations by any Committee.
“Independent of Committees is to such a way that they will make recommendations as to what they think is fit according to how they understood their role and evidence they collected from witnesses they invite to appear before the committees. However, it is the National Assembly has also the right to either accept, reject or accept with amendments,” said the youthful legislators who also sits in the powerful PAC committee.
“MPs being politicians, politics is local, at the end of the day when report come before the National Assembly we see that also playing. It is unfortunate that some of the recommendations made by the Committees have not been passed but I still insist that Parliament has the right to do what they think should be done.”
Last month, PAC ‘s attempt to kick out remaining IEBC Commissioners Wafula Chebukati (chairman) and commissioners Abdi Guliye and Boya Molu from office over claims of misappropriating of taxpayers' money during the 2017 General Election.
Tongaren MP Eseli Simiyu - a member of the oversight PAC committee – concurred that Parliament had been influenced to doctor reports to save some Cabinet Secretaries implicated in the damning report.
He, however, defended the rejection of PAC’s report on IEBC Commissioners saying the Committee chaired by Ugunja MP Opiyo Wandayi committed illegality in trying to kick out the Commissioners through the backdoor.
“In some instances, some vested interests have influenced the House. In some instances there has been breach of law like in the case of PAC report where purported want to remove Commissioners of IEBC when it is clear that when you want to remove Commissioners a Tribunal has to be formed so it is something about legality of what was being perpetuated by PAC,” said the Tongaren lawmaker.
“But a lot of time, you find that watchdog reports on sensitive matters I tend to perceive there is some outside influence,” he added.
Molo MP Francis Kimani admitted that local interests have been at play when sensitive reports are conversed in Parliament but was quick to indicate that the law mandates the House to either approve, amend or reject in total any recommendations by any Committee.
“Independent of Committees is to such a way that they will make recommendations as to what they think is fit according to how they understood their role and evidence they collected from witnesses they invite to appear before the committees. However, it is the National Assembly has also the right to either accept, reject or accept with amendments,” said the youthful legislators who also sits in the powerful PAC committee.
“MPs being politicians, politics is local, at the end of the day when report come before the National Assembly we see that also playing. It is unfortunate that some of the recommendations made by the Committees have not been passed but I still insist that Parliament has the right to do what they think should be done.”
