•The Speaker cautioned that the critical mandate of the House teams will be paralysed if all members skipped the sittings for campaigns.
•The Speaker lauded MPs for their flexibility to serve the nation during the Covid-19 pandemic.
Image: EZEKIEL AMING'A
National Assembly Speaker Justin Muturi on Monday challenged MPs to observe the House calendar to ensure activities are not affected by lack of quorum.
Muturi cautioned lawmakers against skipping house business to campaign ahead of the 2022 elections.
Speaking during this year’s parliamentary forum for committees of the National Assembly, the Speaker raised the alarm over possible paralysis of committees by members skipping meetings leading to lack of quorum.
He said MPs should dedicate time to the housework even as they seek to retain their seats in the coming elections.
“We are fast approaching the tail end of this Parliament, as you fight to retain your seats let's try to support our committees,” he said.
“Let us ensure we get the requisite qorum needed for the committees to operate.”
Operations in the bicameral Parliament - especially committees - have been in the recent months hard hit by quorum hitches as most legislators have retreated to campaign in their constituencies.
The Speaker cautioned that the critical mandate of the House teams will be paralysed if all members skip the sittings for campaigns.
The Speaker lauded MPs for their flexibility to serve the nation during the Covid-19 pandemic.
Muturi said the flexibility of the MPs allowed the house to discharge its mandate at a time the world was battling an unprecedented pandemic.
“Committee working is Parliament at work. I must commend the committees who have gone out of their way to ensure reports are availed to the house in time,” Muturi said.
The forum christened “discharging committee business amidst Covid-19 pandemic” is meant to make the house accountable to the people by showcasing some of the achievements of the committees.
The highlights were for the two years between October 2019 to October 2021.
East Africa Legislative Assembly speaker Martin Ngola is the chief guest for the two-day event that will conclude on Tuesday.
This is the second time the house is showcasing activities of the committees, the first one was held in September 2019.
Speaking during the event, National Assembly Deputy Speaker Moses Cheboi said the initiative is meant to show Kenyans what is happening in the backroom saying that is where most of the parliamentary work is conducted.
“Members have been misjudged a lot in terms of contribution to the House, few Kenyans do not know that there is huge work going on in committees,” Cheboi said.
National Assembly has 33 committees categorised under financial audit and money related committees, departmental committees, and housekeeping committees.
The forum was attended by majority leader Amos Kimunya, National Assembly clerk Michael Sialai, chairpersons of various committees and MPs.
Edited by Kiilu Damaris