Check wastage by parliamentary committees

When it comes to feathering its own nest, the Kenyan parliament has never failed to distinguish itself. From salaries to allowances, Members of Parliament have always bridged the political divide to have their way. On several occasions, the Salaries and Remuneration Commission has had run-ins with parliamentarians whenever it sought to reduce some of the perks they are accustomed to in line with reducing a runaway public wage bill.

While the National Assembly and the Senate should ideally play complementary roles in the execution of their functions as stipulated in the constitution, it emerges the two are working at cross purposes in at least four investigations that both houses are looking at despite the law being clear that matters under investigation by one house cannot be investigated by the other. A duplication of tasks in both houses is tantamount to wastage of public funds because both houses’ committee members draw allowances for investigating a single matter. Parliaments Land committee, for instance, is said to have spent Sh485000 in only five sittings. At the end of the day, the public loses millions of shillings.

Indeed, so bad is the situation, hon John Mbadi is of the opinion that members are driven by the desire for kickbacks and bribery. We cannot afford to have a similar situation to the 2015 one in which the Public accounts committee of parliament was disbanded following claims of corruption. Senate Speaker Ken Lusaka and national assembly Speaker Justin Muturi should rise to the occasion and do what is right.