Watchdog role in question as MPs hold luxury retreat

Parliament during a past session. The agenda for the closed-door sessions at a Naivasha luxury hotel is packed with critical national issues. [File, Standard] Members of Parliament (MPs) have convened this week at a luxury resort in Naivasha for a five-day legislative retreat aimed at "securing a parliamentary legacy". The meeting comes in the shadow of scathing accusations from the Church, civil society, President William Ruto, a damning national audit by Auditor General Nancy Gathungu, and a widespread public perception that the legislature has abandoned its oversight role to become a rubber stamp for the executive. The retreat, themed "Delivering the Fifth Session's Agenda and Preparing for Transition", comes just 18 months before the next General Election and five months after President Ruto delivered an unprecedented public rebuke of MPs. He accused them of turning parliamentary committees into "money-minting rings", where bribes are allegedly demanded from Cabinet Secretaries and governors in exchange for favourable scrutiny, declaring that Parliament had become "a den of graft". The agenda for the closed-door sessions at a Naivasha luxury hotel is packed with critical national issues. These include the failing state-sponsored health insurance scheme that has left patients stranded, the chaotic transition to a new education curriculum, the precarious management of Kenya's towering public debt, and preparations for the 2027 polls. Several key government figures-including Cabinet Secretaries John Mbadi (National Treasury and Planning), Aden Duale (Health), Julius Migos Ogamba (Education), Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) chairperson Erastus Ethekon, Registrar of Political Parties John Lorionokou, and National Social Security Fund (NSSF) Managing Trustee David Koross-are scheduled to appear before MPs. They are expected to brief lawmakers on measures being taken to address key challenges affecting Kenyans and to safeguard the public interest. Yet the spectacle of MPs strategising at a resort alongside government ministers they are constitutionally mandated to audit has ignited fierce criticism from civil society and faith leaders. Critics argue it epitomises a legislature out of touch with a populace grappling with a severe cost-of-living crisis. Under the Constitution, Parliament and its committees have the power to summon any person to appear before them for the purpose of giving evidence or providing information, and they enjoy powers equivalent to those of the High Court. The retreat's emphasis on "legacy" has therefore drawn scepticism. Critics say the concept rings hollow for an institution whose recent record is defined by perceived oversight failures and the passage of contentious legislation. A review of the retreat agenda shows it is heavy on issues that capture the national pulse. These range from crises in the health and education sectorsm largely attributed to the failure of the Social Health Authority (SHA) to remit insurance premiums to hospitals, leaving patients stranded, to the chaotic transition to Grade 10, which threatens to derail the Competency-Based Education (CBE) system. Other concerns include plans to offload government ownership in Safaricom and the Kenya Pipeline Company. However, questions abound over whether these discussions will translate into any meaningful improvement in MPs' performance on the floor of the House, if past experience is anything to go by. Observers say the national mood is one of deep despair, as captured in a December 2025 pastoral letter by the National Council of Churches of Kenya (NCCK). The letter, titled "Justice Be Our Shield and Defender", states that more than 80 per cent of Kenyans believe the country is heading in the wrong direction, with a similar proportion feeling poorer than they did a year earlier. "The cost of living in Kenya is too high, and the impact is devastating," the NCCK said.But the NCCK reserved its harshest condemnation for MPs. "The greatest sorrow in Kenya is that Members of Parliament have wholesomely failed the people of Kenya, lost legitimacy, and become perpetrators of injustice," the letter stated. In the strict assessment titled 'Betrayal by Parliament,' the NCCK continued: 'In Chapter Eight of the Constitution of Kenya 2010, citizens specifically spelt out Parliament's role: making laws, representing the people, and overseeing the government.'" "By passing unjust laws, Members of the National Assembly and Senate have forgotten the warning God gave in Isaiah 10: 1 - 3. Woe to those who make unjust laws, to those who issue oppressive decrees, to deprive the poor of their rights and withhold justice from the oppressed of my people, making widows their prey and robbing the fatherless. What will you do on the day of reckoning, when disaster comes from afar?" This sentiment finds concrete validation in the latest report by the Auditor General. Her annual report for 2024/25 accuses Parliament of "sleeping on the job", revealing a systemic breakdown in the accountability chain.Despite her office submitting 2,746 financial audit reports and 63 performance audit reports to Parliament since 2012, only two performance audits have ever been debated. These reports assess the efficiency of major government programmes in health, education and security, precisely the sectors dominating the retreat's agenda. Follow-up reviews showed that recommendations issued by parliamentary committees were implemented at a rate of just 21 to 25 per cent. Gathungu warned that Parliament's inaction had "significantly hampered" efforts to ensure public funds deliver tangible benefits to citizens. These findings have fuelled accusations that Parliament now functions less as an independent watchdog and more as a compliant arm of the executive. Critics point to the passage of controversial laws, including the 2024 Finance Bill, which triggered deadly nationwide "Gen-Z" protests, as well as the Privacy Bill, the Computer Misuse and Cybercrimes (Amendment) Bill and the Government-Owned Enterprises Act, as evidence of legislative rubber-stamping despite widespread public opposition. "There is a clear pattern where oversight has been replaced by transactional politics," said Alex Mwangi, a Naivasha resident. "The agenda talks about oversight of state corporations, but will MPs confront the claim that the oversight process itself is for sale?" MPs have long been accused of engaging in money-minting schemes, including frequent retreats and trips, at the expense of their legislative and oversight responsibilities-the very mandate Kenyans confer on them every five years through elections. They have also been accused of gravitating towards House committees which, according to President William Ruto, have been turned into corruption dens where MPs extort CSs, governors and senior officials in exchange for favourable reports instead of demanding accountability in the public interest. 'There is something happening in Parliament that must be called out. Money is being demanded from the executive, from governors and from officials who are meant to be accountable. This cannot continue to be business as usual,' he said at the Devolution Conference in Homa Bay in August. "I have made it clear to the EACC that there will be no sacred cows. There will be no phone calls from below or above to stop anyone from being prosecuted." President Ruto's remarks laid bare the deep crisis of confidence surrounding Parliament. By contrast, official communications around the MPs' retreat strike a markedly different tone. National Assembly Speaker Moses Wetang'ula framed the meeting as a "clinical audit" and a "constitutional imperative". "The Fifth Session represents the home stretch for this Parliament," Wetang'ula said. "It is a time for Members to take stock, identify gaps, and chart a course that ensures the 13th Parliament leaves behind a strong and credible legacy." The agenda suggests an acknowledgement of brewing crises. SHA, the government's flagship insurance scheme, is among the institutions set for scrutiny. Health chaos However, critics note that while Standing Orders now allow CSs to appear before both the National Assembly and Senate to answer questions, there has been little evidence of accountability or follow-through on their undertakings. In the health sector, chaos linked to SHA failures has persisted despite repeated appearances by the Health CS before both Houses. Challenges include delays in reimbursing healthcare providers and failure to clear legacy debts inherited from the defunct National Hospital Insurance Fund (NHIF), forcing private hospitals to deny treatment to patients unable to pay cash. The NCCK has previously accused health officials of demanding bribes to release funds to hospitals, crippling healthcare delivery nationwide. In education, MPs will examine a troubled transition to Grade 10 that has left more than 400,000 students unable to report to senior school due to unpaid fees and delayed capitation. Education CS Julius Ogamba has admitted that an audit uncovered Sh1.1 billion paid to ghost students, while Treasury officials have maintained that unpaid capitation cannot be released after the academic year ends-leaving schools saddled with debt. As MPs prepare to interrogate these issues at the retreat, sceptics question whether the discussions will yield genuine accountability, or merely add another chapter to Parliament's growing credibility deficit.

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