Francis Openda
18 January 2006
Nairobi — Kenya is the only East African country without a website for its Parliament.
The National Assembly's official website was shut down last September after The Standard published education backgrounds, hobbies, ages and other details of MPs from the site.
The site was shut down after complaints that the information was "too sensitive" and that MPs had been embarrassed.
Posted on the website, http://www.parliament.go.ke , are the words: "Thank you for visiting the Parliament website. We are currently updating this site. Please bookmark this site and visit us shortly."
The site, which was on a test run, was shut before the launch, set for last September. Kenya's Parliament now lags behind its Ugandan and Tanzanian counterparts, which have websites that have detailed information on MPs.
They detail MPs' employment history, political experience and special skills. The sites also tabulate MPs' performance in Parliament in terms of questions raised and their contributions.
Also included are parliamentary documents such as Bills, Acts, Order Papers and transcripts of proceedings.
The sites also contain a summary of development funds and ministry activities. Also posted on the sites are proceedings of committee meetings, which are still a closed-door affair in Kenya.
The public is also given an opportunity to post comments on the websites.
Be the first to Write a Comment!
Copyright © 2006 The East African Standard. All rights reserved. Distributed by AllAfrica Global Media (allAfrica.com). To contact the copyright holder directly for corrections — or for permission to republish or make other authorized use of this material, click here.
AllAfrica aggregates and indexes content from over 125 African news organizations, plus more than 200 other sources, who are responsible for their own reporting and views. Articles and commentaries that identify allAfrica.com as the publisher are produced or commissioned by AllAfrica.
