Kakamega County Assembly determined to have debates in vernacular

By Bryan Tumwa

Kakamega, Kenya: Members of the Kakamega County Assembly are eagerly awaiting a Motion that could eventually allow them to debate in mother tongue.

Assembly Speaker, Morris Buluma, announced in March immediately after being sworn in that he would facilitate review of Standing Orders to allow members who find it difficult to articulate issues in either English or Kiswahili to do so in their native Luhya.

Buluma, who was a high court advocate before taking up the Speaker’s position, said he would ensure flexibility in the house to give each county representative an equal opportunity to speak.

“Members should not be limited by the use of Kiswahiili and English if they are not comfortable to use them. During my interactions with the elected representatives, I realised that without such flexibility some members might go for a whole five-year term without uttering a word,” said Buluma then.

He pointed out that during the swearing-in, some members struggled with English words.