We have no time, Cabinet Secretaries tell MPs

Cabinet Secretaries are uncomfortable with a new rule that requires them to appear in the National Assembly to answer questions regarding their dockets.

Information Cabinet Secretary Fred Matiang’i and his Transport counterpart Michael Kamau said they would reject the rule given a chance.

They expressed concerns that CSs may not have the time to appear before the MPs and still perform their ministerial duties.

“Things become even more confusing considering the fact we do not have assistant ministers who can represent us in our other official functions while we are in the House,” said Dr Matiang’i.

He said some ministers spent a lot of time travelling because of the nature of their dockets and might, therefore, not make it to the House.

“We are concerned about the time we will be required to spend in Parliament. We don’t have a problem coming before committees of the House but I think our concern is going to be about the amount of time we are going to spend in the House,” he said.

“Given an opportunity, to be very honest with you, it’s just that we are unfortunate… given that we’re civil servants, we don’t have an opportunity to debate this with you, otherwise, we would have seriously objected to this on the grounds of the confusion it will create. But now, we are bound by the law so we’ll be there, present, sir,” said Dr Matiang’i.

Mr Kamau said he had asked the Attorney-General for advice, having found himself often answering similar questions raised by committees in the Senate and the National Assembly.

“I would wish to ask you to set another trend. Where there are common issues, we don’t have to appear twice,” said Mr Kamau.

NEW RULES

He is also concerned about how the CSs would continue to interact with committees in both Houses in the face of the new rules.

They spoke during a meeting on Tuesday when Speaker Justin Muturi explained to them the process of answering the questions.

The rules creating time for CSs to answer MPs’ queries, just as their predecessors did, take effect next month.

Interior Cabinet Secretary Joseph Ole Lenku will be the first before the MPs when the House resumes sittings on the morning of October 14, when the new provisions in the Standing Orders will be implemented.

Others scheduled to appear the same day are Prof Jacob Kaimenyi (Education) and Charity Ngilu (Lands). Prof Kaimenyi and Mr Lenku missed Tuesday’s meeting.

The House has created a committee on general oversight chaired by the Speaker. It will meet every Tuesday and every MP is a member.

The quorum is set low at 16, so that meetings can start as soon as possible.

The Speaker has assured CSs that the arrangement would not be the moment for the MPs to “lynch” them.

“The chair will be very strict with regard to the application of the rule on relevance. Supplementary questions will be restricted to the question sent to the Cabinet Secretary,” he said.