A battle of Supremacy is brewing between President Uhuru’s cabinet secretaries and the members of Parliament and it might get even more messy if speaker Justin Muturi’s latest remarks are anything to go by.
The issue of cabinet secretaries ignoring Parliamentary committee summons has become a pain in the neck of MPs who decided to look for a way forward from the speaker.
According to Muturi, the cabinet secretaries are not exempted from attending Parliamentary committee sessions meaning they are not above the law.
Muturi issued a stern warning to Cabinet Secretaries who fail to honour parliamentary committee summonses by stating that they risked getting sanctions.
One of the actions the MPs will now take is recommending the removal from Cabinet any CS who defies summonses as the legislators seek to assert their oversight role over the other arms of the government.
Muturi issued a warning to the CSs following complaints from House committee chairmen that this defiance has made it hard for them to conclude petitions or have members’ questions responded to.
Mr Muturi told the committees to stop “pampering” the rogue CSs and notify his office through reports of the cases, so that he can take action. “We need to see committee chairmen begin to flex muscles but within the law,” he said.
The Speaker said he is in receipt of a letter from Labour and Social Welfare Committee Chairman Ali Wario about a CS who has failed to honour the team’s numerous invitations. The committee oversees the Labour ministry that is under CS Ukur Yattani.
The Sports committee has also had a difficulties having Sports CS Rashid Echesa appear before it with Sicily Kariuki (Health), Amina Mohamed (Education) also mentioned among those failing to honour invitations without valid reasons.
“Don’t pamper anybody. You should decide when they should come back and ensure they produce answers as per the questions asked,” Muturi said.
According to the House standing orders, committees are required to conclude petitions within 60 days upon their reading in the House by the Speaker. However, this does not happen as CSs fail to show up.
Muturi also took issues with members of Parliament that do not perform their oversight role. Some members of parliament have been accused of failing to turn up for sittings hence leading for a lack of quorum.
For instance, two weeks ago, Kenya Pipeline Corporation chairman John Ngumi was to appear before the Energy committee, which is chaired by Nakuru Town East David Gikaria.
Muturi warned MPs that it is not acceptable to keep witnesses waiting at committee rooms.
Do you Support Muturi’s latest directive to help deal with truant Cabinet Secretaries?