- The PSC is chaired by the Speaker of the National Assembly and has its commissioners picked from senators and parliamentarians.
- MPs voted to have Sh500 million that had initially been allocated to the senators for monitoring and evaluation taken away.
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Senators have now drawn battle lines with their National Assembly counterparts demanding equal representation at the Parliamentary Service Commission.
The senators will also be seeking to reintroduce the elusive oversight fund once the House reconvenes, arguing the fund would help them play their roles effectively.
With the bicameral House set to start its sittings once the ongoing trainings end, the senators will be spoiling for a war with MPs in what is likely to reignite their longstanding rivalries.
Isiolo Senator Fatuma Dulo, who was making a presentation during the opening of the Senate induction retreat at Naivasha in Nakuru county on Tuesday, said they have for long been disadvantaged, especially when voting on welfare.
“This time round we must have equal numbers, they have four commissioners, and we have three. There are two from outside and from my experience they are also from the National Assembly,” she said.
The PSC is chaired by the Speaker of the National Assembly and has its commissioners picked from senators and parliamentarians.
MPs voted to have Sh500 million that had initially been allocated to the senators for monitoring and evaluation taken away.
“As the second and third Senate we have really fought for this fund, maybe there was no political will or maybe our brothers in the National Assembly then didn’t seen the need. I believe they have now seen it, so let us help each other,” she said.
Dulo said, despite the promises made to them and even interventions through various institutions that include the Treasury, Auditor General and Attorney General, among others, they have not succeeded.
“We had legislation but it was thrown out. We were told since this is not a development fund we must have a regulation and so we came up with it but again we did not get the money,” she said.
Dulo cited the 28 bills that were passed by Parliament without oversight from the Senate, yet 23 of them touched on counties.
Senate Speaker Amason Kingi and National Assembly Clerk Jeremiah Nyegenye were present during the meeting alongside Governors Susan Kihika (Nakuru) and Stephen Sang (Nandi).
Nyegenye said linkages between the Senate and other independent and constitutional offices help to provide an opportunity to strengthen their relations for the success of devolution.
In his address, Kingi said he is fully aware of the constitutional obligations that the senators are bestowed with of closely monitoring, supervising and legislating on all aspects of devolution collectively and individually.
“This is a weighty constitutional mandate that comes with huge expectations and requires that you be accorded the necessary financial support and material facilitation,” he said.
“This will enable you to successfully execute the onerous task that also entails traversing your counties to regularly to evaluate the impact of devolution and identify areas that may require legislative intervention.”
Exercise of concurrence on bills passed in both Houses also featured where the National Assembly was accused of passing bills without involving the Senate.
Kihika said there was need to have a dispute resolution mechanism to help resolve issues that affect the two Houses.
(edited by Amol Awuor)