Ruto hails Parliament as his key partner

President William Ruto has defended his relationship with Parliament, terming the August House an “indispensable partner” in the implementation of his agenda, two years on.

In highlighting Kenya Kwanza’s accomplishments made through Parliament and the current relationship between the House and the executive, the Head of State noted that commendable progress had been made thus far.

In a statement from State House’s communications team, the Head of State explained that his engagement with Parliament over the last two years has led to a collaborative exploration of existing opportunities to enrich Kenya’s democratic experience.

A key milestone, he states, was the re-engineering of parliamentary oversight of the Executive by allowing Cabinet Secretaries to appear in plenaries of both Houses of Parliament to respond to questions raised by MPs. “Since the amendment of the Parliamentary Standing Orders, the National Executive through its Cabinet Secretaries has been offered a structured opportunity to prosecute its legislative agenda and elaborate government policy from the floor of both Houses of Parliament, reads the statement in part.

“In the year 2023, all 22 Cabinet Secretaries were engaged by the National Assembly while a total of 18 were engaged by the Senate,” it adds.

Further, the Executive has transited a total of 60 Bills to Parliament.

The President has also assented to 32 Bills thus far, which have been crucial in amongst other things, the management of public finances, budget support and in anchoring the Administration’s Manifesto commitments in various sectors such as climate change, healthcare, affordable housing, gambling and regulation of the country’s financial services.

“Parliament has served as an indispensable partner in steadying the country’s ship, bringing its credentials to bear in times when the country appeared to be headed towards the precipice.

This is demonstrated through the extraordinary display of bipartisanship during the National Dialogue Committee (NADCO) process which, among other things, midwifed various reforms that seek to strengthen confidence in the country’s elections framework.

The recently enacted IEBC (Amendment) Act, which reforms the process of recruiting IEBC Commissioners, is testament of Parliament’s commitment to work with the President for the common good of the people of Kenya,” adds the statement.

Other highlighted achievements include Ruto’s commitment of 131 Statutory Instruments (Regulations) to Parliament’s processes, 82 of which have been approved. Parliament has also approved five of thenine of the Sessional Papers presented by the Executive with the remaining four awaiting Committee Reports.The approved Sessional Papers, State House notes, pronounce the country’s policy position in critical areas such as agriculture, taxation, population and development, the automotive industry, business and human rights.

“On the international relations front, the President has secured Parliament’s adoption of 13 Treaties and Protocols under the framework of the Treaty Making and Ratification Act.