Kenya MPs’ protests rock Cabinet retreat

President Mwai Kibaki, Prime Minister Raila Odinga, Vice president Kalonzo Musyoka, House Speaker Kenneth Marende and Cabinet ministers after the opening of their retreat at the Leisure Lodge Beach Resort in Ukunda on November 12, 2010. Photo/GIDEON MAUNDU 

By EUNICE MACHUHI emachuhi@ke.nationmediacom And LUCAS BARASA lbarasa@ke.nationmedia.com
Posted Friday, November 12 2010 at 22:19

Members of Parliament caused a standoff on Friday at a retreat to fast-track implementation of Kenya's new Constitution.

Image Gallery

This delayed the afternoon session of the two-day retreat held at Leisure Lodge Beach Resort in Diani, South Coast, for more than an hour.

The chairpersons and deputies of various House departmental committees were angered by their exclusion from an earlier session attended by President Kibaki, Prime Minister Raila Odinga, Vice President Kalonzo Musyoka, ministers and their assistants.

They also wanted the media to be allowed to cover all the sessions, saying there was no need for them to be locked out.

House Speaker Kenneth Marende had to wait for an hour before making his afternoon presentation as MPs Adan Keynan and Ababu Namwamba engaged the PM, VP and National Assembly Clerk Patrick Gichohi at the podium. President Kibaki watched pensively as the drama ensued.

The meeting had started well in the morning with remarks from President Kibaki, Mr Odinga, the VP, Mr Marende, Justice minister Mutula Kilonzo and Head of Civil Service Francis Muthaura.

However, after the opening session, the backbenchers were asked to stay away from the after-break session as it was exclusively for ministers and their assistants. Even Mr Marende did not attend.

Mr Namwamba, the chairman of the Justice and Legal Affairs committee, who spoke on behalf of the 20 committee heads, said they held their parallel meeting where they expressed their displeasure for being asked to leave the session.

“We felt it was an opportunity to engage between the House and government and that there was nothing to hide so that we could agree on critical issue of implementation of new Constitution to make the country better,” he said.

He added: “We were taken aback when we were asked to absent ourselves. We should have been told in advance. We are partners in this process. We are ready to engage with government objectively.”

Mr Keynan, chairman of the Defence and Foreign Affairs committee, recalled how MPs fought to transform Parliament which he said was like a department in the Office of the President in 1999.

“If you needed a Cabinet meeting you had an opportunity to meet in Nairobi. Parliament is not an intruder,” Mr Keynan said.

He also read sections of Standing Orders, which give parliamentary committees powers to summon ministers and investigate malpractices. “We are prepared to transform all institutions including Parliament,” he said.

Konoin MP Julius Kones demanded that the media be allowed to cover all the functions. Mr Odinga cooled down the angry MPs, telling them the ministers had to hold their own meeting for house-keeping purposes. He added that the House rules also needed to be reviewed to reflect the new Constitution.

Mr Marende, who spoke on procedure and process of accountability for ministers and accounting officers in Parliament, criticised the Executive for taking issue with MPs’ re-energised efforts to fight corruption.

He said the Standing Orders were anchored on the Constitution and that the laws took effect immediately after promulgation.

Powers to summon

“We can’t dilly-dally about it because it is the new law,” he said, adding that House committees had powers to summon any person as per the Standing Orders.

Although ministers will not be answering questions in Parliament after the next general election, he said MPs would query ministries’ policies and programmes.

“Committees in Senate and National Assembly will have more powers. Watchdog committees will scrutinise reports of the Auditor General” he said.

The Speaker, however, saved ministers implicated in corruption from embarrassment when he said he had directed that all summons issued by House committees must originate from Clerk of the National Assembly.

Image Gallery

He said the committees must also first hold meetings and have minutes showing they had agreed on summons instead of issuing them in the Press.