• According to the woman representative, they had agreed in a meeting prior to the briefing that they would not mention one-man-one-vote and one-man-one-shilling principle proposed in the BBI report
• But shock to her, the MP who was tasked with reading the joint statement ignored the agreement.
A female legislator from the Coastal last week shocked her colleagues and journalists covering a press conference in Parliament when she stormed out of the room, bitterly accusing her colleagues – Kieleweke, ODM, Wiper and KANU MPs – of betraying her.
The legislators were supporting the BBI report that was launched by President Uhuru Kenyatta and ODM leader Raila Odinga. But shock to her, the MP who was tasked with reading the joint statement ignored the agreement. She protested that she comes from a less populous county and, therefore, endorsing the man-one-vote principle would amount to betraying her people and sinking her political career.
Former nominated MP Amina Abdalla found herself in an awkward position when she appeared before the National Assembly’s Finance and Planning committee for vetting. Abdalla, who was nominated to Parliament a record three times, wants to take up a new job at the Salaries and Remuneration Commission, an institution that has been at war with MPs since it was established.
Now, she was, to convince her former colleagues that she is the most suitable candidate for a job at an institution that MPs love to hate. During the vetting, MPs pointed out that the SRC has always portrayed them as a greedy lot and leaders who have no interest of the people they represent at heart.
Abdalla said she badly wants to be a commissioner at the SRC to build a workable relationship between the two institutions. She nonetheless admitted it would be a huge task, keeping in mind the Parliamentary Service Commission has only one slot at the SRC and she would be facing off with 12 other commissioners.
Parliament is tasked with the lawmaking mandate among other key functions. However, a section of the lawmakers have openly expressed doubt in MPs' ability to push the Building Bridges Initiative constitutional amendments, leaving a lot of questions than answers. In fact, Dagoretti North MP Simba Arati has alleged that some of his colleagues will be paid to frustrate the constitutional amendment process, if it is ever taken to Parliament.
Could it be true that MPs pass laws depending on who batters their bread? And does this mean that some MPs are never interested in passing laws that are for the betterment of this country until someone pays them?