Speaker Justin Muturi under fire for backing Uhuru on grilling of Cabinet Secretaries

NAIROBI, KENYA: Opposition leaders in the National Assembly have now turned on Speaker Justin Muturi for suspending rules of the House in what appears to be a direct result of last week's scolding at State House.

Tuesday, Muturi suspended the Committee on General Oversight operations, and ordered a committee of the House to review the Standing Orders. He said the President was not happy with fact that Cabinet Secretaries were being called to the House committee to answer to all MPs on live television.

"We will still uphold the principle that Cabinet Secretaries appear before a committee of the House as per article 153 of the Constitution. The only thing is that you will not see the face of the Speaker or the Deputy Speaker. You should ask as many questions. Members have not been denied any of your rights. I will not allow your right to be taken away. I am just removing myself," the Speaker told MPs in the House.

NO POWER

Muturi said he had opened a round-robin kind of questioning for the Cabinet Secretaries in committees every Tuesday, at meetings where all MPs would sit, and where the media would be invited. The committees would be chaired by the respective chairpersons, and once the respective Cabinet Secretary is done, then another one would be called, and a similar change would occur at the helm of the committee.

President Uhuru Kenyatta has written to the Speaker saying having the Cabinet Secretaries in the House was a breach of the doctrine of separation of powers.

But MPs, led by Minority Leader Francis Nyenze (Kitui West), his deputy Jakoyo Midiwo, and Nicholas Gumbo (Rarieda) said the Speaker had no power under the House rules to suspend Standing Orders that come into operation as a result of a resolution of the House.

"They cannot be calling you to State House or wherever to tell you that they are uncomfortable with certain things that we pass here. There are so many laws that we are uncomfortable with. But the people to tell us that this is illegal, or not, are the courts. There must be a court order, or a resolution of this House to undo the Standing Orders. You cannot suspend it," Midiwo told the Speaker.

Midiwo warned that the Speaker risked being used by the Jubilee administration and the majority side to shield the CSs from being held accountable by the representatives of the people.

"Cabinet Secretaries must be held accountable for their actions; it is not the Speaker or the Leader of Majority that make Standing Orders; the Standing Orders are a property of this House," said Midiwo.

Like Midiwo, Nyenze too warned that the National Assembly should not be seen to be kowtowing to the whims of the Executive.

REVISE ISSUE

"If we accept what the Executive wants, we'd have eroded our power as a National Assembly. I think we debated this issue and we saw the deficiencies, that's why we decided to change the Standing Orders. The decision we arrived at was after a lot of soul-searching and consultation," said Nyenze.

Nyenze and the Minority Whip Thomas Mwadeghu (Wundanyi) then led MPs to a news conference where they said the Speaker had failed to implement the laws, and had abused his powers in declaring the suspension to comply with President Kenyatta's wishes.

"The President is taking away gains made in the Constitution. Should anyone have a problem, that person ought to have gone to court to have the issue revised. It is not the Speaker being summoned to State House and communication being issued to the House," said Nyenze at the press conference.

However, in the House, Majority Leader Adan Duale (Garissa Township) tried to tell MPs that they should not be worried because they still could interview Cabinet Secretaries.

"We have not lost anything, because each MP is competent enough to interrogate ministers the way General Oversight Committee was trying to do. The membership is up to the task. Members who are not of those committees can sit in the committees and question the Cabinet Secretaries," said Duale.

Duale asked the Speaker did not to disband the Committee on General Oversight in the hope that the President would change his mind.

"Let's keep this thing somewhere, in abeyance, so that in case we need it, we'll use it. Those who opposed that committee might see its benefit and relevance someday, say, a year later," said Duale.

But Opposition MPs still disagreed with the President's argument on separation of powers.