MPs in guided House tour ahead of swearing in

Members of the National Assembly Tuesday had a tour of the House ahead of their official induction into the debating chambers, scheduled for Thursday.

They were taken round the debating chamber, media centre, cafeteria, special lobby, bar, the Speaker’s, Deputy Speaker’s, and the Clerk’s office, the Hansard room and the committee rooms. Some even got to see the studios, the library and the reprography room.

The elected leaders of the 290 constituencies, the 47 women representatives from each of the counties, and the 12 nominated lawmakers, are all expected to visit the House to get familiar with the way things are done, before the Thursday sitting.

When the Nation visited Parliament main buildings in Nairobi, the employees of the National Assembly were putting in place measures to ensure things proceed smoothly when the lawmakers make their maiden sitting.

The administrators at the National Assembly had set up a booth at the gate where the MPs-elect or their aides got the nod to get into the House to register their presence.

The Clerk of the National Assembly, Justin Bundi and his deputy Michael Sialai were also at Parliament buildings putting the final touches on the energy-sapping process of swearing in the 349 MPs and the Speaker.

The House has reserved parking space for the lawmakers, both from the Senate and the National Assembly –418 slots—in all.

The members had to produce the original and copy of the national identification card or passport; certificate of election from the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission; four recent passport-size photographs in full colour; and curriculum vitae.

First business

The first business will be to swear in the MPs-elect.  With a 73-word oath of office for the members of the National Assembly, it takes an average of 40 seconds to read through.

But, there’s a ceremony that accompanies the whole thing—the MP has to be escorted to the table by two of his colleagues, given the Bible, or Quran, or simply lift their hands or give the 'cross my heart' gesture and then swear.

After that, the MP signs a book to show that he’s vowed to “bear true faith and allegiance to the People and the Republic of Kenya; that I will obey, respect, uphold, preserve, protect and defend this Constitution of the Republic of Kenya; and that I will faithfully and conscientiously discharge the duties of a Member of Parliament.”

That ceremony, plus the oath-taking, may take a full minute, meaning that, for all the 349 MPs to be sworn in, it will take the Clerk, at least 6 hours to do the job.

Once sworn in, the lawmakers will elect the Speaker and his deputy, through secret ballot. The candidates for these positions have already submitted their papers to the House, and they are lobbying the lawmakers to cast their ballots in their favour.

The polling booths to be used in the election of the Speaker and the Deputy Speaker have already been set up. It’s nothing fancy, just carton boxes like the ones used in the General Election on March 4, the only difference is that after casting their vote, the MPs will sit on the swanky Sh200,000 leather seat.  

To keep imposters off the hallowed precincts of the august House, Mr Bundi had directed that all those elected to serve in the Eleventh Parliament, to produce a set of four documents to prove they are indeed the elected representatives.

On the first day of the Tenth Parliament, in January 15, 2008 an impostor penetrated the arrangements and sat through the sitting, but he was later discovered and thrown out. It is such drama and security scares that the MPs wanted to eliminate.

The Serjeant-at-Arms in the National Assembly, Alloys Lekulo, was holed up in a meeting with senior police officers, putting in place measures to ensure that the lawmakers and everyone else in Parliament buildings is safe.

Accreditation of journalists to cover the maiden sitting is also on-going.