Parliament is the loser in Finance Bill fiasco

Yesterday, the leadership of the National Assembly of Kenya surrendered its independence to the Executive.

It also demonstrated the carrying over of the worst behaviour of the eleventh Parliament in which the majority coalition employed the crass refrain “tyranny of numbers” to secure unpopular reforms while being spiteful.

The belief was that twinning Executive power and parliamentary majority would create dominance, irrespective of the poverty of reasoning.

The influence of the Executive, through its party representatives in Parliament is by itself no harm for an aspiring democracy.

That stated, the latest “passage” of the amended Finance Bill signals the final surrender not only of possible compromise between arms of government but the clear displacement of Parliament in its lawmaking roles.

It is probable this outcome will be subjected to a challenge either by a concerned citizen or by dissatisfied legislators.

The former will be claiming glaring defects in the process that converted a presidential memorandum communicating a veto decision into a law while the latter will seek to nullify the law based on claimed violations of parliamentary procedure.

A WEAKENED PARLIAMENT

Whether the challenges are successful or not, Parliament has lost its stature. No doubt, its leadership must face public questions on its ability to disentangle its management processes from the immediate needs of the Executive.

Popular cynicism that starts with the distaste for Parliament’s feathering of its nest at the expense of the taxpayer will grow to the extent that its legitimacy will be questioned.

While the interference of the Executive was clearly evident in the special parliamentary sitting to reconsider the Finance Bill for 2018, the public saw this result as demonstration of collusion for those who supported the President’s view and weakness and cowardice on the part of those who protested the interference and absence of transparent management of the voting.

EXPENSIVE EXECUTIVE

Long before it became evident that Kenya was living like that adult who would not look at his balances but would spend until the credit card is rejected at a payment point, many Kenyans had the view that the bicameral Parliament is an expensive institution.

This view was formed by a subtle communication from officers in the Executive that Parliament and representation are the causes of the bloated public sector. Thus the commentary on wastage and futility of expenditure tends to be directed at Parliament and the counties while the Executive spends nearly six times more than the two together.

PUBLIC FINANCE

Public finance legislation is the one area where the Constitution intended for Parliament to play its most assertive role. Here, Parliament is granted the pre-eminent role in setting standards for spending and for revenue generation.

A budget-making parliament worth its salt would understand that its ability to control the purse are responsibilities that it should guard far more aggressively. For that reason, the quick about-turn and disintegration of solidarity after the presidential veto demonstrates that Parliament is more talk and not the budget-maker anticipated by the Constitution.

Instead, it is merely an institution whose leadership jumps as high as the Executive wants provided any memo bears the signature of the President.

In that quest, no regulations or principles are sacred and decorum and high-mindedness become a luxury.

PARLIAMENT IS TO BLAME
Therefore, Parliament must bear blame because it has not taken its core responsibilities as seriously as the pace of Kenya’s democratic development demands.

This last event has weakened Parliament. The quality of its deliberations will be poor and thereby fortify the fiction in the public mind that Parliament is a dispensable institution of fat cats and seasoned travellers.

To the Executive, a complaisant legislative body means that its excesses will not be restrained and will become part of statecraft in Kenya.

GOING FORWARD

For the time being, the President has ensured passage of an unpopular law and damaged the harmony with the Legislature.

This is a pity because while the pressure for more revenues is real due to reckless spending, the impending fiscal crisis will require the ability to work in concert with Parliament.

Based on this week’s outcome, he is oblivious of this and will bear responsibility for all fiscal failures.

With that performance by the parliamentary leadership, this presidency has lost any chance that it will have a worthy legacy in economic policy.

His successor will have to pick up the pieces from a real mess and a Parliament of new faces because public anger against sitting MPs will result in a bloodbath at the next polls.

Kwame Owino is the chief executive officer of the Institute of Economic Affairs (IEA-Kenya), a public policy think tank based in Nairobi. Twitter: @IEAKwame