Members of Parliament sitting in the 32 committees are often tasked with the duty to probe and compile reports on matters of national interest including mega corruption scandals.
However, reports have emerged that some of the MPs are easily compromised with brown envelope deals in order to compromise the outcomes of the committee findings.
According to People Daily, the legislators receive between Ksh200,000 and Ksh1 Million each to sway the outcomes of crucial reports.
[caption caption="President Uhuru Kenyatta addressing a parliament session"]
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The bribe figure is reportedly determined by the magnitude of the matter under investigation; the weightier and sensitive the matter, the higher the bribe paid out to committee members.
"A committee investigating suspicious payments in the purchase of property is said to have received Ksh40 million out of which the chair was to pocket Ksh5 million," the People Daily reports.
Due to the huge amount of money involved in paying the bribes, the payments are made in foreign currency with the dollar bills being preferred.
State officials and state agencies seeking special treatment are said to be accustomed to bribing their way out of the committees' vindication.
For instance, "a committee chair recently received Ksh200,000 from a parastatal chief who wanted to be cleared of audit queries".
The committees are also reported to reap big from the Ministries and State Agencies whenever they need money to be allocated as they often have to part with bribes to secure the nod of the committees.
Those who refuse to play ball are threatened with a vote of no confidence while those who comply are rewarded both in cash and in-kind including receiving favours in tenders and jobs for relatives and constituents.
[caption caption="The National Assembly in session"]
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A state parastatal under investigation due to illegal procurements allegedly took members of the probing committee to Nanyuki for a fully-paid weekend treat and issued Ksh30 million to be shared out among the members.
There have been concerns over the parliamentary committees' conduct including the controversial MPs' trip to Moscow, Russia and the apparent lack of consensus in the joint committee investigating the sugar scandal.
