MP Osotsi advances bill to end populist promises

The era of roadside declarations and glamorous political party manifestos could soon come to an end if the National Assembly enacts a proposed legislation which provides a comprehensive framework for scrutiny, tracking, enforcement and implementation of pledges made by government agencies and politicians.

While State officers — including the President and Cabinet secretaries — have used roadside declarations as a political tool to influence policy decisions, those aspiring for political offices have churned out glitzy manifestos to buy the support of unsuspecting electorate.

Interestingly, implementation of these promises is put to the back-burner or disregarded the moment the leaders assume office.

However, this is not going to be the case should the implementation of Government Assurances Bill 2018 become law.

MANDATE

The bill by nominated MP Godfrey Osotsi seeks to establish a monitoring and evaluation body that will provide a timeline to check the implementation process besides enhancing public accountability by those charged with the responsibility.

The body will be based in Parliament and will have a staff of its own.

It will be charged with defining the resolutions passed in Parliament and county assemblies, their duration of execution, extension as well as enforce penalties related to delayed implementation or inaction in a bid to prevent wastage of public funds and address the problem of pending bills.

Other than reports, motions and petitions adopted by the MPs, the bill also touches on the responses provided to parliamentary questions and undertakings by Cabinet secretaries and principal secretaries whenever they appear before the committees of Parliament.

“The passage of the bill will reduce instances of roadside declarations, enhance parliamentary oversight at the national and county levels thereby sealing the existing loopholes in the doctrine of separation of powers and supremacy of Parliament,” Mr Osotsi said.

ACCOUNTABILITY

According to the MP, the respective party manifestos will be required to be tabled in Parliament and have the originating entities interrogated on the implementation schedule.

For instance, in the run up to the March 2013 general election, President Uhuru Kenyatta’s Jubilee Party promised to build nine ultra-modern stadia in selected parts of the country during its first five years of rule.

However, almost seven years down the line, the promise remains just that; a mirage that the bill will now seek to cure.

Two years ago, the President unveiled his Big Four agenda — food security, affordable housing, universal healthcare and manufacturing — ahead of his retirement in 2022.

“There must be fidelity in terms of the promises made to the people so that their support is not taken for a ride.

"People must be held responsible for what they say. This bill should have been passed like yesterday,” Mr Barasa Nyukuri, a governance and political analyst, said.

Mr Osotsi says the bill borrows heavily from the legislative practices in India, which has a whole ministry charged with the monitoring and evaluation of legislative decisions, and Uganda.

MONITORING

Currently, the Committee on Implementation is the only one charged with oversight of implementation of all the House resolutions but lacks the legal teeth beyond the standing orders.

The Senate and the county assemblies have no such monitoring and evaluation mechanisms of their own, meaning that the decisions they make could be in vain even though the Constitution does not envisage such a case.

The passage of the two-thirds gender rule remains elusive despite constitutional timelines, court orders and the undertakings by the executive to have it in place.

“There is need to set up an effective mechanism for the implementation of House resolutions and follow up pledges made by the executive with a view to uphold the principal of government accountability,” Mr Osotsi, who is also the vice chairman of the Committee on Implementation, said.

The Ndung’u Land Commission report passed over 20 years ago, the crisis facing the sugar industry and the annual auditor general’s reports are among the many that remain unimplemented.

INACTIVITY

Consequently, reports on Commission on Post-Election Violence and the Independent Review on Electoral Commission that sought to address the 2008 post-election violence are yet to be implemented fully because of lethargy by responsible government agencies and the absence of an effective body to follow up.

The proposed law is premised on the fact that Parliament and county assemblies derive their oversight mandate from the Constitution to ensure checks and balances on the other arms of government.

Despite the continued efforts by Parliament and county assemblies to follow up on the implementation status, there has been inaction and unsatisfactory responses by the implementing agencies.

“This non-compliance has led to contempt of legislative decisions rendering the work of Parliament futile. This is the mischief that the bill seeks to address,” Mr Osotsi said.