Politics of ‘punches’ dominated the National Assembly on Thursday after members nearly came to blows during the debate on the report regarding the conduct of Wajir Woman MP Fatuma Gedi. Trouble followed after Kimilili MP Didmus Barasa threatened to punch one of the members who was protesting the debate on Gedi's conduct. In the ensuing chaos, Esther Passaris (Nairobi) stood before the MP, who has just settled from a case of harassment by Kibra youths, daring him to make good his threat. After that, every member who contributed to the disorderly debate attempted to create a picture of how the punching should be defined. It took Speaker Justin Muturi’s threats to eject the unruly members to restore order to cool tension. The House finally rejected the report reprimanding the Wajir lawmaker.
A Jubilee female MP caused a stir during a Senate committee meeting last week. In her usual style, the good Senator arrived in the committee late and found a male colleague sitting in her ‘designated’ seat, next to the chairman. She demanded that the man immediately leaves the seat. ‘Don’t you know this is my chair? Leave!” she shouted. The heavily built first-term legislator refused to leave the chair and said, "Is your name written her?"
But the female MP shouted back, asking the chairman to stop the meeting and direct the colleague to leave the chair. The chairman, appearing irritated by the conduct of the "honourable members" told them to ‘stop behaving like children.” The male Senator stood and stormed out of the meeting.
In the past few days, Cabinet secretaries — some of whom have never honoured summonses to appear before committees on serious issues touching on their dockets —have been trooping to Parliament to defend their budget estimates. The change of heart has caught the attention of some MPs who took the moment to chide the ministry leaders. Health CS Sicily Kariuki is one of such CSs who ordinarily will send her PS to respond to MPs' questions. In fact, Kimilili MP Didmus Barasa last month caused a stir when he rejected attempts by Kariuki's CAS to respond to his question. On Thursday, when defending the ministry's budget, the CS was accompanied by a delegation from her ministry, including the PS. The same was the case with Energy ministry.
