Eldas MP Adan Keynan (left), Top row: MPs Beatrice Elachi (Dagoretti North), Dr James Nyikal (Seme) George Aladwa (Makadara). Bottom row: Dr Wilberforce Oundo (Funyula), Makali Mulu (Kitui Central) and Oscar Sudi (Kapseret).
Eldas MP Adan Keynan is among the most active MPs in the National Assembly according to the latest scorecard by Mzalendo, a monitoring organisation.
Mzalendo has accused parliament of mismatched priorities, saying that it paints MPs at odds with citizen expectations, demands and priorities.
The 2024 parliamentary scorecard also has MPs Oscar Sudi (Kapseret) and George Aladwa (Makadara) as the perennial non-speakers in the National Assembly.
The scorecard notes that other than Mr Keynan, the other members of the National Assembly whose performance was rated highly by the Kenyan parliamentary monitoring firm include Dr Wilberforce Oundo (Funyula), Beatrice Elachi (Dagoretti North), Dr James Nyikal (Seme) and Makali Mulu (Kitui Central).
“The scorecard this year has gone further and detailed their contributions on the floor of the House and how they voted on critical issues, including impeachment motions,” says Ms Caroline Gaita, Mzalendo Executive Director.
In contrast, the number of MPs who have not spoken this year is slightly higher compared to last year's Scorecard, from 19 to 20 MPs with more than half of the House having spoken less than ten times.
Mr Sudi is doing his third term while Mr Aladwa is in his second term.
“Their silence on the floor has become emblematic of a lack of substantive engagement by some elected representatives. Despite their silence, many of these members voted on critical Bills, including those affecting health, housing, taxation and impeachment motions,” observes Ms Gaita.
The scorecard has also decried that citizens’ voices remain muted in legislative priorities as parliament has “incessantly” failed to align its work with electorates’ needs and aspirations, “even sidelining citizens’ views in key legislations as was witnessed in the Finance Bill, 2024.”
The most active female MPs are Elachi, Zamzam Mohammed, (Mombasa County Woman Representative), Catherine Omanyo (Busia County Women Representative), Dorothy Ikiara, (Nominated) and Jane Njeri (Kirinyaga County Women Representative).
Ms Njeri, Ms Cynthia Muge, (Nandi County Woman Representative), Mr Gitonga Mukunji (Manyatta), and Robert Basil (Yatta) lead the list of most active young MPs.
According to the scorecard, the most active Senators are, Mr Samson Cherargei (Nandi), Mr Eddy Oketch (Migori), Ms Tabitha Mutinda (nominated) and Senator Gloria Orwoba (nominated).
From left: The most active senators Samson Cherargei (Nandi), Mr Eddy Oketch (Migori), Ms Tabitha Mutinda (nominated) and Gloria Orwoba (nominated).
The least active senators are Mr Issa Boy Juma (Kwale), Ms Betty Batuli (nominated) and Senator Shakilla Mohamed (nominated).
“All these three Senators were absent in the voting on the five key Bills in the House,” says Ms Gaita, “these Bills include the Affordable Housing Bill, the Primary Healthcare Bill, the Social Health Insurance Bill, the Sugar Bill and the IEBC (Amendment) Bill.”
Nominated Senator Crystal Asige and Mr Cherargei, lead with the highest number of Bills sponsored in the Senate- six and five respectively.
The scorecard notes that public participation remains a challenge, due to the lack of a clear framework on what constitutes meaningful participation.
For instance, the scorecard notes discrepancies between the period provided for citizen inputs for different Bills, ranging between three days and 20 days in the National Assembly, and three days and 24 days in the Senate, depending on the bill in question and the responsible committees.
“Worryingly, the bills that have elicited high citizen interest seem to attract the lowest participation timelines,” says Ms Gaita.
She singled out the Digital Health Bill, which she says had a public participation window of three days in the Senate with the Social Health Insurance Bill having a public participation window of seven days in the National Assembly.
“Public Participation, which is often rendered perfunctory by Parliament, continues to be a point of contestation between MPs and Wananchi,” she says.
She notes that while there has been an increase in legislative output in 2024, “Kenyans' sentiments and needs continue to be pushed to the periphery.”
The report notes that during the period under review, one Private Member’s Bill in the National Assembly and two in the Senate received presidential assent compared to the 20 government-sponsored Bills in the National Assembly and two in the Senate.
Ms Gaita also observed an “influx in Bills that threaten to undermine the constitution”- Land Laws (Amendment) Bill 2023, Assembly and Demonstrations Bill 2024, and Anti-Corruption and Economic Crimes (Amendment) Bills.
There is also the Constitution of Kenya (Amendment) Bill, 2024 that sought to, among others, increase the term limits of the President, Governors, MPs and MCAs.
“These Bills have been tabled in a period where Kenyans continue to grapple with the high cost of living and a harsh business environment, unemployment, a healthcare crisis among others.”
The Scorecard has also revealed a worrying trend in parliament where both Houses were muddled with challenges of quorum hitches.
For instance, in the National Assembly, since August 2023, 40 sittings out of a total of 158 sittings over the period were adjourned due to lack of quorum, which translates to 25 percent of the total sittings.
Further, two sittings didn’t kick off at all, one of them being the morning after a vote on the impeachment of the former Deputy President Rigathi Gachagua took place.
“Some of the instances where there was a lack of quorum were on days when critical issues such as when there was a debate on the Employment (Amendment) Bill, an adjournment motion on rising femicide cases in Kenya and an adjournment motion regarding measures towards sustainable living.”
The Senate, the scorecard shows, 26 sittings out of a total of 177 sittings adjourned due to lack of quorum, translating to 15 percent of the total sittings.
