We should do more to rid Parliament of corruption

Over the last few days Kenyans have ridiculed the idea that MPs could be bribed with Sh10,000. This was for good reason. If we table the ethics and legality of bribing MPs for a minute, it is worth noting that the men and women that represent us in the National Assembly earn upwards of Sh1 million a month. It is also worth remembering that the whole point of paying our legislators enormous sums was so that they would be immune to petty bribery and be able to attend to needs of their constituents. But as it turns out, our legislators’ base instincts cannot be sanitised through higher pay.

In moments like this we ought to remember that Parliament has not always been State House’s lapdog or a cesspool of corruption. It is Parliament that in 1965 forced the executive to be honest about the East African Corporation. It is also Parliament that in 1975 conducted an inquiry into the murder of J M Kariuki, the results of which spared not even aides close to President Jomo Kenyatta. Even under Moi Parliament would every now and then show glimpses of its institutional autonomy. Which is why it is doubly disappointing that under a more democratic dispensation and with the most robust powers that the institution has ever had, our current legislators and Parliament’s leadership can do little more than grovel for a few pieces of silver.