Virus scare leaves parliamentary calendar in disarray

The coronavirus pandemic has thrown Parliament’s calendar into disarray after it emerged that some lawmakers tested positive for the virus.

Already a number of legislators are pushing their colleagues who might have tested positive to come out publicly as a precautionary measure to save other citizens.

The call came a day after the Star reported that 17 members drawn from the bicameral Parliament tested positive for the virus.

Gatundu South MP Moses Kuria urged Health Cabinet Secretary Mutahi Kagwe to release the names of lawmakers who have tested positive for the virus so that other Kenyans who have interacted with them can come out to be tested.

“Dear CS Kagwe, if it is true 17 MPs have tested positive for coronavirus, it is only fair you release their names so that Kenyans who have interacted with them can rush for testing,” Kuria wrote on his Facebook page on Wednesday.

But it has also emerged that the Ministry of Health could also be groping in the dark about the health status of MPs.

Pathologists Lancet Kenya Limited, an internationally accredited laboratory, was independently commissioned by Parliament to test MPs and the results are being sent to individual lawmakers.

"The ministry is aware of the reports in the media indicating a section of legislators have tested positive, but as it stands now, we have not received any formal report of the cases," Health Chief Administrative Secretary Mercy Mwangangi said on Wednesday.

"We are asking all labs that are conducting testing to follow the due protocol in reporting, be it positive or negative cases,"  Dr Mwangangi said.

President Uhuru Kenyatta announced various tax and policy measures to insulate the economy against the impact of Covid-19, but the same must be given legal backing by Parliament. 

The measures include a 100 per cent tax relief for individuals with a gross monthly income of not more than Sh24,000. The measures were effective from April 1.

A number of legislative measures have been lined up including the Covid-19 Emergency Fund Regulations, tax laws and VAT regulations.

A special sitting scheduled for Wednesday was cancelled over fears of coronavirus spread among the MPs.

The House is now scheduled to resume sittings on Tuesday next week but it's not clear if the sitting will continue with some members raising health concerns.

Majority Leader Aden Duale, however, says the Tuesday sitting is mandatory.

"The clerk is in consultation with the relevant government agencies - like the ministries of Health and Interior - to make sure MPs attend the sitting," Duale told the Star

MPs as representatives of the people usually interact with thousands of Kenyans.

“An MP by nature of his/her job can infect up to 3,000 people so we are looking at 50,000 infections arising from MPs,” Kuria said.

Yesterday, a number of senators and MPs who participated in the voluntary Covid-19 tests at Parliament Buildings came out to publicly declare they had tested negative.

Senate Speaker Kenneth Lusaka, Suba South MP John Mbadi, Senators James Orengo (Siaya), Ledama Olekina (Narok), Mutula Kilonzo Jnr (Makueni) and MPs Bernard Okoth (Kibra), Caleb Amisi (Saboti) and Godfrey Osotsi (nominated) said they tested negative.

Mbadi urged other MPs to go for the test and those found positive to go public for the sake of Kenyans who might have physically interacted with them.

“What is the big deal? Why would Parliament not just say if we had information that XYZ numbers of MPs have turned positive? What is the big deal in sharing that with the country? It is good to protect other Kenyans,” Mbadi said.

Apart from the Covid-19 scare, MPs are also faced with a logistic nightmare having been locked out of Nairobi following containment orders announced by President Uhuru Kenyatta on Monday.

The President declared a cessation of both inbound and outbound movement in the Nairobi metropolis and the counties of Mombasa, Kilifi and Kwale.

Lawmakers who had travelled out of the capital for the short recess, which ends on April 14, are uncertain they will return to the city.

There would be double jeopardy for those in the coastal counties of Mombasa, Kilifi, Kwale, where the movement restrictions also apply.

A number of lawmakers told the Star they were yet to get clear direction on how they will make it to Parliament in the face of the containment.

Leader of Majority Aden Duale said the directive would curtail the movement of members expected to attend the Tuesday sitting.

“With movement being limited now, the ability of the members to attend such meetings may also be restricted,” the Garissa Township MP said in a statement.

“The need for MPs to be given clearance to attend the scheduled sittings is, therefore, paramount.” 

This is especially in the face of revelations that the plan for holding a virtual sitting – online, may not suffice.

Sources at the august House intimated to the Star that the plan for virtual sittings is yet to be considered but is already being seen as complicated.

“There is complexity in how to amend the Standing Orders as the virtual sittings require such changes,” an official said.

Mbadi ruled out virtual sittings saying the House leadership had agreed that members resume sittings at the chamber - in line with Covid-19 guidelines.

“Indeed, we have talked of virtual sittings but ideally we cannot have a sitting at different locations,” the Minority leader said.

“The law says that Parliament shall be sitting. We can do so anywhere but we must sit. I don’t think we can communicate and pretend to be holding a sitting.”

Mbadi told the Star they resolved that the clerk writes to Attorney General Kihara Kariuki to advise the Interior ministry to facilitate MPs to enter Nairobi.

The leadership invoked Section 26 of the Powers and Privileges Act which says you cannot obstruct an MP from going to Parliament to discharge his duty.

“We will still manage the numbers of people going to the chamber as stated in the Speaker’s guidelines restricting sitting space to 70 members.”

This was even as MPs protested their exclusion – as well as the Judiciary, in the decisions by the Executive on matters of Covid-19 emergency response.

Duale castigated the Executive for lacking a coordinated approach in the fight against the coronavirus pandemic.

“This needs not be overstated. We need coordination in the manner in which the measures are proposed and implemented,” Duale said.

He holds that the measures being formulated “must not just be seen from the perspective of the Executive, but the Legislature and Judiciary must be loped in.”

Some MPs accused the Executive of an attempt to circumvent oversight of funds set aside for the fight against coronavirus outbreak.

They cited publication of reports that 17 members of the two Houses had tested positive as part of the plot to scuttle House sittings.

Homa Bay Town’s Peter Kaluma said, “I've never seen anywhere in the world where the Executive invokes emergency powers and is left to do as it wills...there must be oversight.”

Nyali MP Mohammed Ali said, “Someone wants to continue bypassing the Constitution to siphon off funds meant for Covid-19. This is possible if Parliament is not sitting so that they take over roles of the National Assembly and run everything through decree.”

Edited by Peter Obuya