50 senators told to vacate KICC offices over forums
Kakamega Senator Boni Khalwale addresses the public at a past event. Senator Khalwale is one of the lawmakers told to vacate KICC. PHOTO | ISAAC WALE | NATION MEDIA GROUP
What you need to know:
- Senate Clerk Jeremiah Nyegenye, who is the secretary of the Parliamentary Service Commission, told the House leaders that they would not be using their offices for the whole of this year.
More than 50 senators will not work from their offices at the KICC until January next year.
The government asked them to leave the offices because of upcoming conferences.
The lawmakers were first ejected from the building last September to provide space for the World Trade Organisation conference held in Nairobi in December.
The government has now asked them to continue being away from the building for a further 12 months as it prepares to host two more global conferences this year.
The lawmakers were informed of the decision during a Senate leadership retreat at the Serena Beach Hotel in Mombasa last Friday.
Senate Clerk Jeremiah Nyegenye, who is the secretary of the Parliamentary Service Commission, told the House leaders that they would not be using their offices for the whole of this year.
Kenya is expected to host the Tokyo International Conference on African Development in August.
It is the first time it is being held outside Japan.
Senators were, however, not happy with the latest move, saying they had been promised to be given back the offices in January.
“We have been tactically thrown out of our offices. We were cheated to release the offices for a few months but now we are being told we will be given money. Who said we want money? We want offices to work from because we are now working from some jua kali places,” said Kakamega Senator Boni Khalwale, one of the affected lawmakers.
When they vacated their offices last September, they were told they would be away for only three months.
