Photo/FILE Kenya National Assembly Speaker, Mr Kenneth Marende: Since his election on January 15, 2008, the Speaker has had to handle his fair share of controversies, the first of which revolved around the oath of allegiance for MPs just a few minutes after he took office.
By JOHN NGIRACHU jngirachu@ke.nationmedia.com
Posted Saturday, October 29 2011 at 19:23
Posted Saturday, October 29 2011 at 19:23
National Assembly Speaker Kenneth Marende is this week set to face yet another challenge to his authority from MPs unhappy with some of his decisions in Parliament.
Mr Marende is set to preside over an informal meeting popularly known as Kamukunji on Thursday over a motion to reconstitute the Parliamentary Service Commission and two others seeking to censure him and Deputy Speaker Farah Maalim.
Mr Marende is set to preside over an informal meeting popularly known as Kamukunji on Thursday over a motion to reconstitute the Parliamentary Service Commission and two others seeking to censure him and Deputy Speaker Farah Maalim.
Since his election on January 15, 2008, the Speaker has had to handle his fair share of controversies, the first of which revolved around the oath of allegiance for MPs just a few minutes after he took office.
He has also had to make some tough decisions about the wrangling over the position of Leader of Government Business between the Vice-President and the Prime Minister and the furore that arose when President Kibaki nominated persons to the positions of Chief Justice, Controller of Budget and Attorney-General earlier this year.
The nature of the new challenge is different from the previous ones, though, because it is his authority as the head of one of the arms of government, the Legislature, at stake.
Gwassi MP John Mbadi has filed the motion to reconstitute the Parliamentary Service Commission headed by Mr Marende. Mr Mbadi is said to have the backing of ODM whip Jakoyo Midiwo. (READ: PNU: Move to dissolve PSC 'unconstitutional')
MPs opposed to the PSC accuse it of favouritism in the tendering and procurement process, especially over the upgrade of the debating chamber.
There were also concerns by MPs that when the Kenya Revenue Authority came calling for taxes on their allowances in June, the PSC did not do enough to protect them. (READ: Kenyan MPs dip into relief fund for tax arrears)
Mr Mbadi was reportedly asked to raise his issues with the PSC at the Kamukunji on Thursday, creating the opportunity for the matter to be possibly swept under the carpet.
The other hot potato has come in the form of the protracted wrangling over the moribund but crucial parliamentary justice and legal affairs committee.
Last Thursday, Githunguri MP Njoroge Baiya, the vice chairman of the committee, teamed up with ODM rebel MP for Chepalungu Isaac Ruto to file two motions asking the House to reprimand Mr Marende and Mr Maalim for allegedly frustrating the efforts by the majority of the committee to elect a chairman to replace Mr Ababu Namwamba, who was ousted. (READ: MPs plan Marende censure motion)
Rarely does Mr Marende speak about such issues outside Parliament, but this one moved him sufficiently to tell journalists on Friday he was prepared for the challenge by the MPs.
He also defended his actions since the row broke out in the committee in February even as he stated that the MPs were perfectly within their democratic rights in filing the motions.
He said the risk of such a censure motion comes with the job given that a Speaker sits between competing interests and would come under fire if one of the political sides feels aggrieved by a decision.
“The Speaker’s position is generally hazardous and it is shrouded in risk all the time because political interests can never be similar. As long as I have done what I should do as Speaker, I will have no fears,” said Mr Marende.
Mr Baiya and Mr Ruto say Mr Marende has done far less than he should as Speaker in his handling of the row in the committee and handing its work over to the Constitutional Implementation Oversight Committee.
Matters at the legal affairs committee came unstuck soon after the majority MPs removed Mr Namwamba as chairman. (READ: Row over sacking of MPs from team)
A meeting to elect another chairman ended without much success as ODM announced it had withdrawn all its members — meaning Mr Ruto and Ms Sophia Abdi Noor would also have lost their places.
But Mr Ruto protested that ODM did not have the power to withdraw its members. The remaining committee members claim they were frustrated in their efforts to meet after Mr Maalim, as chairman of the liaison committee, denied them a chance to elect a new chairman.
They say Mr Marende has also not been of any assistance with his rulings whenever the matter has been discussed in Parliament, which the Speaker denies.
“If they say the Speaker has interfered, let them say how the Speaker has interfered and if I have indeed, I will own up.
“But as far as I’m concerned I have not done anything I shouldn’t do and whatever I’m required to do I have done, dutifully and carefully and within the law,” said Mr Marende.
The affairs of the committee were debated in Parliament on Thursday evening, marked with the perennial PNU-ODM divisions, and it was resolved that a political solution would be necessary.
A former chairman of the committee, Mr Abdikadir Mohammed, agreed with the suggestion that a political negotiation between the main coalition partners could resolve the stalemate.
He said ultimately, it would be up to the two parties to rise to the occasion and revive the committee, whose roles have been taken over by the Constitutional Implementation Oversight Committee he heads.“I think it’s a political problem, and with the political parties, and I don’t wish to point fingers at any of them, are shirking responsibility,” said Mr Mohammed.
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