•ICT committee chairman William Kisang’ (Marakwet West MP) put a good word for the MP.
•Report showed some MPs attended once, twice or three times; the majority appeared in less than half.
Uriri MP Mark Nyamitta has dismissed the findings of a House report listing him among members who skipped noticeable committee meetings.
The lawmaker, who sits in the Budget and ICT committees, said the rating in the report tabled by Majority Leader Amos Kimunya last Wednesday was not factual.
The MP told the Star on the phone that he “is not only a diligent member but one of the resource persons in the ICT committee.”
Nyamita maintained that he may not have attended all meetings "but this was on occasions when ICT committee sittings coincided with those of the Budget Committee.”
He was responding to the report by the House leadership which showed that 10 legislators skipped all committee meetings between February and October last year.
The report suggested that Nyamitta attended only 9 of 45 meetings by the ICT committee and uttered no word on the floor.
Others attended once, twice or three times; the majority appeared in less than half of their parliamentary committee sittings.
Nyamitta, however, holds that apart from clash in timetable, he has never attempted to sign attendance sheets for a meeting he has not attended.
“In the spirit of honesty, I am not one of those members who would go and sign attendance sheet then leave for the next meeting,” he said.
He further stated that he is also the liaison person of the ICT and Budget committee, a role he argues cannot allow him slumber in the House.
“The report purported that I have not spoken yet Hansard has all to say about the claim. When I miss a sitting, there must be a valid reason.”
Nyamitta added that the law is clear on discharge of members who fail to attend a certain number of meetings.
“If I was not attending committees, I would have been removed in the recent purge,” the Uriri lawmaker said.
National Assembly ICT committee chairman William Kisang’ (Marakwet West MP) put a good word for his colleague saying he is a key member.
He said: “Mark has been a very good member. As his chairman, I can attest that he attends meetings regularly.”
“Out of the 19 members in my team, eight are IT professionals, Mark being one of them…our minimum is always about 15 members in attendance,” the ICT chair said.
Nyamitta says his activeness in the committee earned his constituency the chance to host Kenya’s second state-of-the-art film studio.
He said the facility – the first one being at Mount Kenya University, is already equipped and is among “products of discussions that happen in ICT committee.”
“Uriri was ranked as top beneficiary of KYEOP. We have also got Presidential Digital Talent where a number of students have benefited from the venture. This wouldn’t have happened if I was skipping committee meetings,” the MP said.