Kaparo bans MPs luxury beach trip

Parliament's Speaker has banned MPs from attending an all-expenses-paid workshop at a luxury beach hotel in Mombasa – and warned them that the days of going to the seaside to discuss Bills were now over.

Speaker Francis ole Kaparo made the ruling soon after assistant Finance minister Mutua Katuku invited MPs to a three-day workshop at the Sun N Sand Beach Hotel, to discuss a new law that will regulate how the government buys goods and services.

It was due to start tomorrow . . . until Mr Kaparo put his foot down.

The Speaker asked MPs: "If Bills pending before this House are to be taken to hotels to be discussed, then what is the use of this House?"

And he added: "I think you are out of order and I order MPs not to attend this workshop." 

He went on to say the days of going to luxury hotels to discuss new laws were now a thing of the past.

The Speaker made his ruling after Mr Katuku rose in Parliament at the end of Question Time in the afternoon and said he wanted to issue a ministerial statement.

"I would like to invite members to a donor consultative group briefing forum at Sun 'N' Sand Beach Resort," he said, adding that it would take place from June 17 to June 19.

He said that the workshop would focus on the Procurement and Disposal Bill, which was pending before the House. 

"The minister will also update members on Government's discussion with donors and how it proposes to handle the legislative aspects of its reform programmes," he said.

The assistant minister then formally invited MPs to attend the three-day meeting, for which all expenses would be paid, including round-trip air tickets and unspecified allowances.

Contacted yesterday, the Sun N Sand resident manager, Mr Frederick Andimilleh Makumbi, confirmed that 270 rooms had been booked for MPs and what he called "resource persons".

"I have in fact recalled staff from leave and they have not informed me of the cancellation," he said.

Mr Makumbi added that staff normally went on leave in the low season and that they had only been recalled to deal with the many expected guests.

But reacting to the ruling outside Parliament, Mr Katuku said the forum would still take place because the intention was not to anticipate debate as the Speaker had observed. Consequently, interested MPs were asked to sign up with Government chief whip Norman Nyagah for the Coast trip.

"I want to appeal to the Speaker to rescind his decision and allow MPs to attend this important forum because it was organised for interested MPs and other groups,'' said the assistant minister.

According to him, the Government's objective was to have MPs understand issues raised in the "crucial'' Bill, before it was brought to Parliament for debate.

Dubious procurement 

The Government, he argued, had lost billions of shillings through dubious procurement arising from loopholes in the law, and it was for that reason that MPs have been invited to the meeting so they could understand the proposed law.

"We are keen to ensure that the Bill does not go the way of a number of others which have been denied presidential assent because they were passed hurriedly," argued Mr Katuku, the Mwala MP.

He added: "We want MPs to understand it thoroughly and that is why I still insist that they attend the meeting.'' 

He confirmed that a number of MPs had already indicated they would attend. "Government's business must not be held to ransom by its other arm, Parliament," said the assistant minister.

The minister who spoke to the Nation said the workshop has been sponsored by the Ministry of Finance, and not through Parliament as is usually the procedure. 

Donors have set enactment of the Procurement and Disposal Bill as one of the conditions of releasing aid. It is intended to seal loopholes for corruption and to set strict rules on international tendering that would prohibit a recurrence of such scandals as the Anglo Leasing contracts, in which millions of shillings were paid out with no work done in return.

The new law would also cut the length of time taken between conception of a project and its start; today as long as three years.

Donors have been pressing the Government to get Parliament to enact the Bill, arguing it would streamline state purchases and smooth out procedures for tendering.

But local industrialists and some MPs have taken issue with a proposal in the Bill that might give advantage to international bidders.

Mr Kaparo's order might have been in response to recent public outrage over the issue of commerce sponsoring workshops for MPs to lobby for support on Bills in which they have direct interest.

Crucial Bills

Last November, MPs were separately given five-star holidays by the Ministry of Health and cigarette manufacturers ahead of two crucial Bills which were to be tabled in Parliament.

On November 11, it was Health minister Mrs Charity Ngilu's turn to host the MPs at the White Sands Hotel, in an arrangement she said was fully financed by the World Health Organisation.

Additional Reporting by Edmund Kwena and Mugumo Munene