National Assembly Speaker Justin Muturi warns committee bosses on delayed statements

Kenya: National Assembly Speaker Justin Muturi has warned chairpersons of House committees over delays in responding to statements sought by members.He criticised the chairpersons of parliamentary committees, saying they were taking their duties for granted.

Muturi was angered when no committee leaders were present in the House to respond to members’ queries and reprimanded them on the first day of sittings after a two-week break.

“By failing to respond to these statements, you are giving the committees and the National Assembly a bad name. You need to improve this. It is on this account that I direct that the responses be given in two weeks without further delay,” ruled Muturi.

Just before the House took a break, the conduct of the committees featured prominently in the media after Cord Minority Leader Jakoyo Midiwo alleged that committee members were engaged in corrupt activities in discharging their duties.

Spray farms

The matter came up when Francis Mwangangi (Yatta) sought a statement from Environment Committee chairperson Amina Abdalla regarding the pollution of Thika River by fruit canners. Surprisingly, Ms Abdalla and her deputy were not present to respond to the matter.

Mwangangi had stated that the canners were spraying their farms with a spray whose contents were unknown. The MP wants the committee to report on the contents of the spray used and its potential harm to the public using the river’s water downstream.

“The committee should state whether there are any plans by the fruit canners to treat the affluent that is released into the river for the safety of the users and the environment downstream. The committee should state the plans in place by the relevant Government bodies to prevent such occurrences in future,” he said.

As was the case with Abdulla, her Education counterpart Sabina Chege was absent. There was a light moment when Muturi said it was unfortunate that the Committee on Education and Technology could not respond to a statement sought by Kagogo “since it’s only the handbag that was left by the chair”.

- Story by Roselyne Obala, Moses Njagih and Wilfred Ayaga