Azimio MPs grope in the dark on oversight role
Azimio La Umoja Party leaders Raila Odinga and Martha Karua look at a document at the Milimani High Court in Nairobi on August 22, 2022. The majority of MPs in the Azimio coalition said they have been left on their own on how to counter Kenya Kwanza Alliance on the floor of the House.
What you need to know:
- The majority of MPs in the coalition said they have been left on their own on how to counter Kenya Kwanza Alliance on the floor of the House.
- Dissenting voices express concern that lack of communication from their leaders both inside and outside parliament may lead to the disintegration of the team.
- Although Azimio knew they were going to be defeated on this strategy due to the numerical strength of Kenya Kwanza, the aim was to put up a fight and send a strong message to the president.
Disjointed Azimio la Umoja One Kenya coalition political party is facing an uphill task in undertaking its oversight role in Parliament, as a quiet dissent over lack of clear direction and communication from the leadership gets louder.
The majority of MPs in the coalition, who spoke to the Sunday Nation, said they have been left on their own on how to counter Kenya Kwanza Alliance on the floor of the House.
The problem has been compounded by the placing of members in various committees, which the House adopted on Thursday afternoon with the majority complaining that the process was skewed.
Some MPs pointed out that while some members had as many as four committees, others were only one or two. The exercise was done by the Minority Whip Junet Mohammed.
An MP from Nyanza complained bitterly that he was denied an opportunity to serve in the Transport and infrastructure committee, claiming his position was given to an MP from Nairobi.
“What roads are there to be made in Nairobi? I should have been there instead because it is in the rural areas where our people are suffering because of bad roads,” the MP told Sunday Nation.
The Sunday Nation has learnt that another MP who was placed in four committees, including the one on regional integration, is set to relinquish her position so that others can be given that slot saying he did not even express interest to serve in it.
While the majority of MPs in the coalition believe that they have formidable numbers which if properly guided can give President William Ruto’s administration a headache, dissenting voices express concern that lack of communication from their leaders both inside and outside parliament may lead to the disintegration of the team.
Sources in the coalition decried that since Raila Odinga and other leaders held a strategy meeting in September in Mombasa, together with the parliamentary leadership on how to keep Dr Ruto’s administration in check, nothing has been communicated to MPs
The meeting was attended by Mr Odinga, Narc Kenya’s Martha Karua, Wiper’s Kalonzo Musyoka, Jubilee Party secretary-general Jeremiah Kioni, National Assembly minority leader Opiyo Wandayi, his deputy Robert Mbui, Minority Whip Junet Mohammed and some members of the Azimio campaign secretariat.
Azimio MPs have, however, complained that one month since the meeting was held, they have never been briefed on its resolutions.
“No one has called a meeting to tell us what was discussed and how to execute the decisions. How then will we proceed with no direction and communication,” questioned an MP serving his third term.
Sources disclosed that the Mombasa meeting discussed the disruption of Speaker Moses Wetangula’s ruling on the majority and minority tussle, but this flopped.
“We already knew that the ruling was not going to go our way, so the leadership was to lead in disrupting the speech mid-way then other members were to follow suit but they left him to finish and said they will challenge it in court,” said an MP who was well aware of the plan.
The second task of the team was last week’s vetting of President Ruto’s nominees as Cabinet secretaries. The minority was to come up with a protest report of four nominees.
The four include Aisha Jumwa (Public service and gender), Mithika Linturi (Agriculture), Njuguna Ndung’u (National Treasury) and Davis Chirchir (Energy and Petroleum)
They later, however, narrowed it down to only Ms Jumwa and Mr Linturi, but again poor execution led to the report being disregarded. According to the plan, Sunday Nation has learnt that the minority report was to be followed by proposed amendments to the majority report and then lobby members to push for amendments through a vote.
Although Azimio knew they were going to be defeated on this strategy due to the numerical strength of Kenya Kwanza, the aim was to put up a fight and send a strong message to the president.
“There was nobody to tell us what to do, did you see any of those in leadership in the chambers then, one of them walked in when the speaker was almost putting the question,” asked another MP from Wiper.
Nominated MP John Mbadi said sometimes it takes a while for leadership to settle down but pointed out there is a need for increased engagement between the leadership and members.
