Commissions of Inquiry (Amendment) Bill

Parliament on Tuesday allowed a Bill that seeks to make it possible to access reports of commissions of inquiry once investigations are complete.

All the MPs who made contributions spoke in support of the Commissions of Inquiry (Amendment) Bill, 2009, brought by Kisumu Town West MP Olago Aluoch.

The Bill seeks to amend the current Act to give the National Assembly an oversight role in the conduct of the activities of inquiry commissions.

It now goes to the relevant departmental committee for amendments and debate before being brought back to the House for the third and final stage.

The Bill is aimed at eliminating the wastage of taxpayers’ money in the past, when commission findings were kept secret.

“And this despite the fact that inquiries are constituted to interrogate matters that are of a public nature and which directly affect the public,” said Mr Aluoch in the Bill before MPs on Wednesday.

He says the public is usually active participants in the proceedings and deliberations of such inquiries, in addition to being its source of funds, and that it would be wrong for them not to access the findings.

The proposed amendment will require a commissioner to report the findings to both the National Assembly and the President.

The submission of these findings to MPs, says the Bill, will give the public, through their representatives, the chance to discuss them.

Speaking when he seconded the Aluoch motion, Saboti MP Eugene Wamalwa said the Bill would give MPs a chance to see if the funds spent on commissions are used well.

Budalang’i MP Ababu Namwamba said Parliament would then follow up on the findings and recommendations via the Implementation Committee established with the revision of the Standing Orders last year.

Nominated MP Mohammed Affey said commissions had been used in “fire-fighting” by the government, so having them report the findings to Parliament would be useful.