The outrage over the shoddy report on the probe on contraband sugar didn’t take many by surprise. Two weeks ago, social media was on fire after a picture showed the Agriculture and Trade Committee members getting cosy with Jaswant Rai – the owner of West Kenya Sugar– who was under probe.
They say choices have consequences. So, for choosing to take the low road, the 36 members of the committee should be punished. A cold rebuke from the National Assembly Speaker Justin Muturi or Aden Duale, the Leader of Majority, will not of itself – as we have seen before- cause ill-mannered members to desist from abusing the trust of those who elected them to Parliament. Besides the threat to disband them, parliamentary authorities should go further.
Because they don’t deserve it, parliamentary authorities should ask the MPs to return all the allowances earned during the probe, which given their numbers, run into millions. By accepting pay for no work done, the MPs are taking part in and perpetuating the culture of corruption where those who don’t deserve get an unfair advantage over the deserving. How will they cast the first stone when their conduct is not beyond reproach?This should lead to a rethink of the whole concept of parliamentary probe committees. Though they perform an important oversight role, most of them are reactionary, always playing catch up.
Not wanting to be left, Parliament, itself not a paragon of virtue, has always jumped into every opportunity to probe every manner of malfeasance. And because of their own inadequacies, the MPs obstruct rather advance the quest for justice and transparency.
Against the admission from Speaker Justin Muturi that rent-seeking is rampant in the chambers, Kenyans ought to worry. To be fair, this was not the first this has happened.
In 2015, MPs openly took sides while probing then Devolution CS Anne Waiguru (now Kirinyaga Governor) over procurement irregularities and an attempt to steal Sh800 million at the NYS.
Jubilee-aligned MPs belaboured to mute probing questions put forward to Ms Waiguru by creating chaos while the CORD side did all they could to nail her. Parliament is supreme; it represents the dreams and aspirations of the citizenry. It worries when such an important institution engages in the kind of shenanigans we saw last week or worst of all, is captured by the dark forces of corruption.
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