As the National Assembly resumed its sittings on Tuesday, February 13, Speaker Moses Wetangula revealed that cabinet secretaries would be spared from answering questions raised by parliamentarians before the House went on holiday break.
Wetangula explained that per the standing orders, certain business that was not dispensed with at the end of the second session was now deemed lapsed.
The National Assembly Speaker remarked that the standing orders applied to all motions, statements, questions and some bills presented before the House.
“I am aware that at the end of the second session, 281 questions were sent to Cabinet Secretaries, where 15 questions were responded to leaving 156 awaiting response from respective CSs,” Wetang'ula stated.
“All other questions that had not been transmitted to CSs, constitutional commissions and independent offices have lapsed.”
While the CSs will not answer questions raised by MPs but not submitted to their desks before the break, they will still have to answer the questions relayed by National Assembly Majority Leader Kimani Ichung'wah before the break on the floor of the house.
The Speaker urged MPs who had transmitted the questions to contact Majority Leader Kimani Ichung’wah to have the responses fast-tracked.
The grilling of CSs was proposed by President Ruto as a way of holding the Executive accountable.
Azimio legislators had opposed the move but Justice Lawrence Mugambi ruled that the Senate and National Assembly were right to amend their Standing Orders to grill cabinet secretaries.
Despite the goodwill from the Presidency, several Cabinet Secretaries have been accused of deliberately skipping Parliamentary summons.
Additionally, Speaker Wetang'ula announced that the Equalisation Fund Bill (NA Bill No.47 of 2022) sponsored by Tiaty MP William Kamket will not proceed as presented before the break.
As such, Kamket has been ordered to republish the Bill in the same or different form.
