Executive attack on MPs over graft is a trojan horse

Kenya national parliament or National Assembly.[Wilberforce Okwiri/Standard]

In the current fight between the Executive and Parliament, Kenyans of goodwill should back the legislators. This is because we should always be wary of any attempt to reduce the political power and influence of individual legislators – which is the objective of most attacks on the National Government Constituency Development Fund (NG-CDF).

Let us be clear. Parliament is only as powerful as individual members’ ability to command support for reelection in constituencies. If members are politically weak, or rely on parties and their ethnic chiefs for reelection, Parliament becomes subordinate to extra-parliamentary political players. We must avoid that situation.