Orange Democratic Movement (ODM) Secretary General Edwin Sifuna has disclosed that Azimio senators have not been attending sessions with cabinet secretaries because they are unconstitutional.
Sifuna noted that the coalition has established rules barring its members from attending the session since there are no provisions in the constitution supporting the same.
The ODM leader revealed that they had already filed a reference to the High Court and are awaiting a verdict due to be delivered this month to fully address the issue.
Sifuna made the statement while responding to a Kenyan who had raised concerns about why most MPs from the minority side have been skipping the crucial sessions.
“Several Senators, especially from the minority side, were absent during a session with CS Kithure Kindiki,” a Kenyan stated in a post mentioning the Nairobi senator.
“Work on absenteeism. I was worried yesterday.”
Sifuna’s sentiments come two days after the senate security committee grilled interior and coordination cabinet secretary Kithure Kindiki on the state of security in the country and clarification on Haiti's mission.
The plenary session attended by a number of MPs was evidently skipped by a number of Azimio legislators.
The Constitution initially, only gave room for the CSs to appear before Parliamentary committees.
However, it was later amended permitting both parliament and senate to grill the cabinet secretaries who are obligated to appear before the respective committees of both houses occasionally to give progress updates and answer questions raised by the legislators.
Article 153 (3) of the Constitution has permitted Senate or National Assembly committees to sermon CSs.
The article states that a Cabinet Secretary shall attend before a committee of the National Assembly, or the Senate, when required by the committee, and answer any question concerning a matter for which the Cabinet Secretary is responsible.
