Findings of Constitution audit not sweet music to MPs’ ears

When the National Assembly unilaterally set out to audit the socio-economic impact of the new Constitution in 2014, there were no cheers. Senate was distraught by the lower House’s move and questioned the motive behind their sudden action, as the Constitution was barely two years into its implementation. MPs don’t particularly like other institutions created by the new law that ate into their hitherto gladiatory mandate, such as the Senate and some constitutional commissions and offices. Nor do they hide their resentment to the new and many devolution sheriffs who have raided their turf in the countryside, who they believed were a huge cost to the economy.

When consultants published their interim report this week, it was not music to their ears. There were no proposals to scrap the Senate, female MPs or MCAs or constitutional commissions; and there was no conclusion that the new Constitution created monsters that ought to be dealt with. The report largely found the national government, which is under their watch, to be the elephant in the room. Surprisingly, it also debunked several myths about Parliament in general. The report noted that Parliament was not relatively too large, or expensive. A Kenyan MP represents 120,000 people on average while in Africa, it is 83,000. 

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