National Assembly Clerk Justin Bundi has warned MPs they will be surcharged for wasting taxpayers’ money for failing to show up for meetings locally and internationally.
Bundi expressed displeasure over the worrying trend emerging in Parliament, where Parliamentary Service Commission (PSC) books tickets and hotel rooms but the legislators do not turn up or even excuse themselves prior to the meeting date.
“We will institute mechanism to ensure this money is recovered. Not confirming attendance is not a difficult matter,” he stated.
He said they are experiencing difficulty when committees travel abroad or schedule local workshops, particularly in Kisumu and Mombasa and after members confirm and tickets issued, but they do not show up.
“Once tickets are issued and space paid, it turns out that several members have not turned up. This leads to loss of public resources,” he said.
He added: “It is even sad that a few members shift dates and ask for their tickets to be paid, yet we had already paid for the travels.”
Bundi also took issue with time keeping and committee attendance, which he observed puts the assembly in an awkward situation.
Quorum hitch
“Committee members sometimes only make technical appearance and therefore the meetings fail to commence due to lack of quorum. This has derailed progress of the committees and by extension the House,” he said.
The quorum of the House is 50 MPs; while that of committees is nine. The House rules also require that if the committees do not raise quorum within thirty minutes after the appointed hour, then the sitting will be adjourned.
No meetings
“It is embarrassing because sometimes we invite Cabinet Secretaries, people from the private sector and co-operations only for the meeting to fail to proceed. We need to improve, “ the Clerk said.
Bundi also concurred with Speaker Justin Muturi and Majority Leader Adan Duale that parliamentary staff recruited recently should be trained on parliamentary procedures and committee reports.
Duale faulted the recruitment of the parliamentary staff by the PSC.
“PSC should ensure it recruits staff with merit and takes them through training on parliamentary procedures and workings to avoid public embarrassment like it happened with the report prepared by the Clerk of the Defense and Foreign Relations Committee,” he said.
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The Majority Leader added: “The quality of committee reports is substandard. We need to have more than five clerks per committee, two research officers and the legal officers.”
Muturi concurred with Duale, saying the clerks will be trained.
Bundi said each committee now has at least three clerks, one legal officer and one researcher and will soon get information officers. “Most of the officers are new. We are working hard to ensure they go through necessarily orientation,” the Speaker added.
“These officers were recruited in June and started working in July. They need to understand operations of Parliament, and starting Monday (tomorrow), they will begin studies at the Kenya School of Government in Kabete on tailor-made courses on committee management and Parliament’s operations. By the end of this year, they will provide the required services. They will be brilliant officers,” said Muturi.
He further expressed concerns over the conduct of legislators and called for decorum.
“Let there be order and discipline, let us ensure we observe our Standing Orders at all time,” Muturi said.
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