Mixed bag that was 12th Parliament's tenure

Babu Owino (Embakasi East) and Charles Njagua of Starehe brawled at the start of the 12th Parliament’s term. [Moses Omusula, Standard]

The National Assembly breaks today without a return date and unless called back through a special sitting, this could be the last of the 12th Parliament.

Members face scrutiny over how they have conducted their legislative, representative and oversight duties. The intertwined roles have earned them more criticism than praise.

Parliament provide oversight on the Executive and Judiciary. The current legislature has been accused of doing a bad job at that.

Controversial proposals by the Executive have sailed through without resistance, giving credence to allegations of MPs being puppets of the Executive.

Defiance has come at the cost of a purge from lucrative parliamentary committee memberships, with loyalty rewarded by promotion.

The Executive’s stranglehold on Parliament has seen government officials snub summonses by committees, frustrating MPs who have at times seemed helpless.

In March last year, members of the National Assembly Security Committee snubbed a virtual meeting with Interior Cabinet Secretary Fred Matiang’i and Principal Secretary Karanja Kibicho to protest their frequent non-attendance of previous meetings.

“What reason do we have to have a meeting with such people?” Kitui Central MP Makali Mulu protested in Parliament. “When we are discussing matters as important as questions from MPs, they are never there.”

Playing yes-men has also had MPs make their vetting exercise a mere formality, in the end having people of questionable integrity, occupying public office.

But within and outside Parliament, some MPs have engaged in physical fights to defend their respective sides, disgracing the august House.

The chaos of December last year, as MPs debated the Constitution of Kenya (Amendment) Bill, 2020, more famous as the Building Bridges Initiative Bill (BBI) is an example. Babu Owino (Embakasi East) and Charles Njagua of Starehe brawled at the start of the 12th Parliament’s term, with Simba Arati (Dagoretti North) and Sylvanus Osoro (South Mugirango) fighting at a funeral in February last year.

In playing their oversight role, MPs have made several U-turns, criticising or praising government proposals depending on their allegiances.

National Assembly Speaker Justin Muturi (centre) arrives for House proceedings, January 25, 2022. [Elvis Ogina, Standard]

Before the March 2018 handshake between President Uhuru Kenyatta and ODM leader Raila Odinga, allies of Deputy President William Ruto endorsed every proposal fronted by the government. Opposition MPs did their best to frustrate government Bills. The roles switched when Uhuru and Ruto’s relationship went south.

Several scandals have also dogged MPs. Year after year, the Auditor General, in her reports, has found gaps in the expenditure of the National Government Constituency Development Funds (NG-CDF).

Several MPs have failed to account for the Sh140m they receive from the national government annually, even as others, such as the late Ken Okoth (Kibra), received praise.

On several occasions, Parliament has also been on the receiving end over its appetite for foreign lavish trips. MPs’ spending on foreign trips hit a historic high in the three months to June, highlighting their renewed appetite for overseas tours following the easing of Covid-19 travel restrictions.

Data from the Controller of Budget, for instance, showed that from March to June 2021, Members of the National Assembly and Senators splashed Sh703.1 million on foreign trips - the highest quarterly spending since Kenya started making public travel spending in 2013.

The spending on flight tickets, accommodation and allowances rose 14 times from the Sh49.87 million lawmakers spent on foreign trips in the quarter to March.

MPs have used local travel and overseas trips to boost their pay, making them among the best-paid lawmakers in the world albeit with little corresponding socio-economic benefits.

As Covid-19 ravaged the country in 2020, representatives in government, led by the President, took pay cuts to help ease the country’s financial strain. MPs, however, would not follow suit.

Earning a monthly salary of Sh710,000 (excluding allowances), a 10 per cent pay cut by MPs in both houses would have contributed Sh2m monthly to the emergency kitty.

Most popular

It is at the legislative stage that MPs have boasted of their work, with the phrase ‘Parliament works through committees’ being the most popular rebuttal to claims that lawmakers have been sleeping on the job.

Since 2017, the Speaker Justin Muturi-led National Assembly has handled 339 Bills originating from within and outside the National Assembly, passing more than 150.

Past Parlaiment session. [File, Standard]

Some are routine legislations handled annually, such as the Finance Bill, with other initiatives geared towards providing a legal framework for various activities. And they have been praised and bashed in equal measure.

Owing to the heated debate around it, the BBI Bill has been the most controversial. The Bill nullified by the Supreme Court, proposed to change the structure of government, introducing a presidential and parliamentary hybrid. It also sought addition of 70 new constituencies, among other contentious issues.

Critics had a field day painting the BBI Bill in a bad light. While Ruto and his allies termed it a selfish mission to create positions for a few, the civil society pointed out its attempt to usurp independence of the electoral agency.

The Bill’s backers hailed it as a plausible solution to remedying the winner-takes-all politics that had excluded communities from attaining positions of power.

Declared illegal

MPs were also put on the spot for the authoring of a law birthing the Huduma Namba.

The High Court declared the rollout of Huduma Namba, on which the government spent more than Sh10 billion for the number that was declared illegal as it was in conflict with the Data Protection Act.

The courts ruled that the government should have conducted an impact assessment before rolling out the Huduma Cards. Parliament has also been criticised for increasing the public debt ceiling to Sh10 trillion amid the high cost of living.

Kenyans have in the recent past expressed fears that the cost of basic necessities would soar given the projected increase in taxes to repay the debts.

On the flip side, the 12th Parliament has been hailed for introducing Bills and passing laws that have had a positive impact on the citizenry. The laws have been instrumental in unlocking billions meant for devolution, bettering the lives of refugees and introducing radical reforms that brought about positive change and turned around the fortunes of tea farmers just to name but a few.

Parliament Buildings, January 2022. [Boniface Okendo, Standard]

One such initiative is the Employment (Amendment Bill) 2021, which paved the way for graduates to seek jobs without producing clearance certificates from State agencies. It shields them against employers demanding documents such as Kenya Revenue Authority (KRA), DCI, Higher Education Loans Board (HELB), and Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission (EACC) until or unless a job offer is guaranteed.

The Copyright (amendment Bill) signed into law two months ago now allows artists to receive 52 per cent of the revenue generated from their art. Previously, artists only received 16 per cent of the proceeds while 25 per cent and 51 per cent went to the Kenya Revenue Authority (KRA) and mobile phone operators, respectively.

Data protection

During its tenure, the 12th Parliament has also passed the Data Protection bill (2019) which is now an Act. This law was to establish a legal and institutional mechanism to regulate the collection, storage and processing of personal data in order to protect the privacy of individuals. The law enforces the right to privacy by providing remedies against any breach.

It armed Kenyan citizens with the right to: know why and how their information is being recorded, stored and handled, and for what specific purpose it will be used.  

The Sectional Properties Bill (2019) which is now an Act provides for independent ownership of floors in apartments. That means that just as one can hire a floor in a building, so can they buy it. Once they do, they are issued a certificate of title, they are recognised as legal owners of those individual floors.​

Another law that has been lauded is the Refugee Act 2021, which President Kenyatta assented to in November last year but went into effect in February. The legislation got praise from different players who hailed it for offering some 500,000 refugees access to education and structured employment opportunities.