Court allows House to grill Cabinet secretaries

The High Court has allowed Cabinet secretaries to appear before Parliament and answer questions from MPs.

Justice Lawrence Mugambi ruled that the Senate and National Assembly were right to amend their Standing Orders to scrutinise ministries' functions and hold CSs accountable.

The ruling settles a dispute between Azimio and Kenya Kwanza senators on whether CSs can simultaneously appear before Senate committees and the whole House.

Azimio argued that the Constitution does not permit CSs to appear before the House.

But Justice Mugambi said Azimio's interpretation of the supreme law was narrow and did not reflect Parliament's roles.

"Committees of the Senate or the National Assembly are simply meant to assist the National Assembly or Senate to discharge that mandate. Parliament can perform those tasks directly if it so desires and this will not be unconstitutional. It is not beholden to the committees, which it has created merely to assist it to perform its responsibilities," the judge said.

The petition was filed by Steward Madzayo, Edwin Sifuna, Ledama Ole Kina, Catherine Mumma, Mohamed Faki, Okiya Omtatah, Moses Kajwang', Okong'o Omogeni, Daniel Maanzo, Johnes Mwaruma, Oburu Oginga, Eddy Oketch and Richard Onyonka.

Others included Godfrey Osotsi, Enoch Wambua, Agnes Muthama, Hamida Kibwana, Hezena Lematian, Crystal Asige, Boy Juma, Beatrice Ogola, Beth Syengo and Betty Batuli.

Azimio had accused President William Ruto of seeking to undermine his pre-election pledge to ensure CSs are directly held accountable by the people through their elected representatives.

The Raila Odinga-led camp argued that changes to the Standing Orders, which saw Interior CS Kithure Kindiki, Transport CS Kipchumba Murkomen, and Environment CS Soipan Tuya appear before the National Assembly plenary, were unconstitutional.

"Amendment to the Standing Orders have the consequences of amending provisions of Article 153(3) of the Constitution by allowing Cabinet secretaries to appear before the whole House when the Constitution only allows them to appear before committees," the Azimio senators argued.

They argued that the plenary of the whole House does not constitute to a committee, and the move by their colleagues amounted to changing the law through the back door.

Under the changes, the clerks of the National Assembly and Senate were required to prepare and schedule questions for a Cabinet secretary a week in advance.

The changes also outlined procedures for asking questions, with the Speaker having the power to reject any question.

The senators said the changes were prompted by President Ruto's call on December 9 last year, urging both Speakers to allow CSs to appear before Parliament.

Article 153(3) provides that a CS shall appear before a committee of the National Assembly the Senate and answer any question concerning matters for which the CS is responsible.

In response, the Attorney General and clerks of the Senate and National Assembly urged the court to dismiss the case.

In their separate responses, they argued that the orders sought undue judicial interference in legislative business.

The Senate Clerk argued that Azimio had jumped the gun, as they did not appeal before the House Speaker.

He further argued that government accountability through Parliament is a fundamental feature of the Constitution, and one tool is interrogating Cabinet secretaries' performance on the floor of the house.

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