MPs and committees ashaming Parliament

National Assembly Speaker Justin Muturi. [Boniface Okendo/Standard]

Parliamentary committee chairmen should end investigations in case of duplicity, National Assembly Speaker Justin Muturi said yesterday.

"The chairpersons should use their judgements on a case by case basis," he said when asked about the implication of his communication barring parallel investigations by MPs on matters being handled by other law enforcement agencies. 

Mr Muturi stopped parallel investigations into matters being probed by other agencies and issued guidelines on how MPs relate with witnesses following protests about some committees being too cozy with persons of interest.

“It rests upon each Committee to decide and resolve on the urgency of the inquiry they propose to undertake. If an investigative agency is conducting a parallel investigation, and where prosecution has preferred charges on individuals of interest to the committee on matters similar to those before it, the inquiry before the committee should be suspended,” said Muturi.

Some of the probes the National Assembly is undertaking that are already being handled by other State agencies touch on the Ruaraka land saga, National Youth Service, Kenya Power and Kenya Pipeline.