Cabinet Secretaries to answer questions in Parliament

Cabinet Secretaries from left Najib Balala(Mining), James Macharia(Health), Ali Wario(Sports) and Fred Matiang'i during their breakfast meeting at Parliament (PHOTO:BONIFACE OKENDO)

After more than a year of limited engagement with Cabinet members because they don't report to Parliament, members of the National Assembly yesterday had a face-to-face meeting with the Executive team that will be having weekly sessions right in the chamber from next month.

Despite not being elected Members of Parliament, the CSs will be appearing before the MPs to field questions emanating from their portfolios as the new Standing Orders bring down the wall that had been set to demarcate the separation of powers between the Legislature and the Executive.

President Uhuru Kenyatta's Cabinet was the first to be picked outside Parliament, in line with the Constitution. It effectively meant the 11th Parliament became the first to operate without the traditional Question Time through which ministers responded to members' queries.

It meant MPs could only question CSs through committees that are, however, not suited to respond to questions touching on respective constituencies, unlike the latitude offered during question time when ministers had slotted time to respond to listed queries.

Yesterday, Speaker Justin Muturi invited 13 CSs and at least 17 Principal Secretaries to a meeting in the National Assembly to agree on how to deal with queries raised by MPs in the House.

The Speaker, his deputy Joyce Laboso, Majority Leader Aden Duale and party whips told the CSs that they had no option but to show up in the august House to answer members' questions on specific issues in their constituencies.

Muturi, Duale and Majority Whip Katoo ole Metito dangled the carrot of free publicity for Government agenda as the main reason the CSs have to meet MPs every Tuesday between 10am and 12.30 pm.

They told the members of President Kenyatta's Cabinet that they will have the platform of the National Assembly to tell the country about their roles and goals.

The trio, all members of the ruling Jubilee coalition in the Jubilee-dominated National Assembly, are looking at the sessions, which will be broadcast live, as an avenue for the CSs to tell the country what they were doing at a time when the county governments appear to have stolen the limelight and taken the credit for nearly all the key projects that have improved the lives at the grassroots.

"This is the best chance for you to showcase the Government agenda to the people of Kenya. We feel this will reduce the pressure on the presidency," argued Duale at the meeting held early yesterday at Parliament Buildings.

They also promised the CSs they will not be harassed or "lynched" by MPs.

"The meeting will not be a forum for lynching cabinet secretaries, but rather a forum of constructive engagement. The Deputy Speaker and myself will be firm to ensure utmost respect and decorum. There will be no lynching," assured Muturi.

Muturi and Duale insisted they were not trying to bend the Constitution to have the CSs within Parliament. In their view, they were simply implementing Articles 95(2), 153(3) and 153 (4)(b), of the country's supreme law.

The Articles require the National Assembly to address issues that trouble their constituents and obligates cabinet secretaries to brief MPs on any matter at any time that they (CSs) are invited to do so; and requires the CSs to issue regular reports to the MPs on Government policies.

The Clerk of the National Assembly Justin Bundi said the CSs will be given a seven-day notice. In case of an emergency, the CSs will have 24 hours to respond to MPs.

The Majority Leader will be the link between CSs and the National Assembly. All questions directed to ministries will have to be vetted and approved by the Speaker.

Cabinet Secretaries Joseph ole Lenku (Interior), Charity Ngilu (Lands, Housing and Urban Development) and Prof Jacob Kaimenyi (Education) will be the first to do so in a fortnight. The National Assembly is on recess and resumes sittings on October 14.

At yesterday's meeting, CS Fred Matiang'i (Information and Communication) and Michael Kamau (Transport and Infrastructure) questioned the possibility of being forced to spend the bulk of their time shuttling from one committee to another during the week; and still do the hour-long session every Tuesday.

But the Speaker said the other committees will be barred from addressing any matter that is canvassed within the Committee on General Oversight, which CSs – three at a time – will be appearing before every Tuesday morning.

"We are relieving the committee that burden of responding to questions raised by MPs. They will not call you to respond to queries. If anything of that nature happens, let me know, because it is purely a waste of time," Muturi told the cabinet secretaries.

Matiang'i also notified the Speaker that it will be somewhat difficult for CSs to show up, because, in the current architecture of the Executive, they do not have deputies to delegate their roles to.

The CSs who attended the meeting were Amina Mohammed (Foreign Affairs), Hassan Wario (Sports), Anne Waiguru (Devolution), James Macharia (Health), Henry Rotich (National Treasury), Najib Balala (Mining), Raychelle Omamo (Defence), Phyllis Kandie (East Africa Community and Tourism), Kambi Kazungu (Labour), Felix Koskei (Agriculture), Ngilu, Matiang'i and Kamau.

It emerged also the Cabinet Secretaries have written to the Attorney General Githu Muigai seeking advice on whether it was legal for them to appear before the National Assembly and the Senate to respond to similar issues.

Kamau complained to Muturi and Duale that ministers had a hard time shuttling between the two Houses to respond to similar queries.

Muturi and Duale explained the roles of the two Houses were specifically defined in the Constitution and there was no reason for there to be a clash.