Sharon Otieno, NYS, Riparian Land, Handshake among prominent issues in 2018 Parliament-Report

Parliamentary session. [File, Standard]

The Building Bridges Initiative, demolitions and scandals on NYS, land, sugar and maize were some of the most discussed on issues in the Senate and National Assembly in 2018.

According to a report by Mzalendo Trust, which was published on its website today, each House had 20 issues which were deliberated at length.

The report which is titled: “Parliamentarians Scorecard 2018: How did Kenyan legislators perform?” details the issues which mostly grabbed the media headlines in 2018, at the time that the political heat was being quelled by President Uhuru Kenyatta and ODM’s Raila Odinga ceasefire.

In the Senate, some of the notable issues include Miguna Miguna’s deportation saga, SGR, Handshake appointments, Riparian Land, NYS Scandal. Demolitions, terror victims, maize scandal, Sharon Otieno, Solai dam tragedy, femicide, Swearing-in, Building Bridges Initiative, Committee hearings, bills and motions.

The National Assembly also deliberated the following: Miguna Miguna deportation saga, referendum, Solai dam tragedy, corruption, cybersecurity, sports, affordable housing, maize scandal, VAT, Fuel levy, Handshake, gender, infrastructure, election re-run and sugar bribery.

Screenshot of Mzalendo Trust's graphics on issues. [Courtesy of Mzalendo Trust]

The report further ranks counties with their performance on the floor of the houses, based on the issues tabled.

Trans Nzoia County led the list with a score of 1321, followed by Nairobi and Kisumu at 1283 and 931 respectively.

Worst performers on this category are Nyamira County coming last at a score of 84, followed by Embu and Lamu at 67 and 61 respectively.

Part of this report gave a stunning revelation on how MPs pocketing millions of shillings made less than 10 contributions in entire sessions in a year.  The report stated that at least four MPs among them Oscar Sudi (Kapsaret), Alex Kosgey (Emgwen) and their Nakuru West counterpart Samuel Arama were yet to utter a word in Parliament.