National Assembly Speaker Justin Muturi yesterday criticised the Executive for "frustrating the anti-corruption efforts by MPs watchdog committees".
Muturi said that while parliamentary committees are crucial in the fight against corruption, they can only make recommendations for action by the Executive.
Even when the findings of the oversight committees are damning, prosecution or barring of accused persons from holding public office can only be effected by the Executive, he said.
"In most cases, the agents of the Executive give status reports on implementing these recommendations but these tend to be the most useless documents," he said.
The main watchdogs of Parliament are the Public Accounts and Public Investment committees.
Muturi said the legislators were mulling amendments to laws to allow anti-graft detectives to sit in during the watchdog committee meetings.
"The frustration from inexhaustive or non-implementation of the recommendations that we make on corruption matters made us consider having officers from the DCI or EACC sit along as we take evidence at the committees," he added.
Muturi spoke while launching the strategic plan of African Parliamentary Network Against Corruption (APNAC) Kenyan chapter in Nairobi.
"It is the officers who know how to get more information from people who may have a lot to say about issues that we may be investigating.
Muturi also accused the executive of a laxity in implementing laws passed by MPs.
He cited the Procurement and Asset Recovery Act, Public-Private Partnership Act whose incomplete implementation had left loopholes for corruption.
ANC Party leader Musalia Mudavadi raised concerns over the funding priorities to state organs, particularly those mandated to spearhead the fight against graft.
Mudavadi questioned the seriousness of the House in countermanding the apparent rise in the country's corruption index.
"How serious are our parliamentarians in this fight if Parliament, with an employee base of about 1,000 to 1,200 gets Sh43 billion while the Judiciary and EACC get paltry allocations?" he asked.
The Treasury allocated Parliament Sh38.5 billion but gave the Judiciary Sh17.45 billion in the budget policy statement tabled in the House.
But Muturi defended Parliament, saying the Treasury gives every government department "resource envelops" where they indicate their wish-list before eventual allocation.
EACC commissioner Dabar Abdi Maalim said that agency had recovered Sh2.5 billion and prevented Sh5 billion from being looted from state coffers through investing in proactive investigations and alternative dispute resolution.
(edited by O. Owino)
