Nairobi — Members of Parliament have failed to address the concerns of their constituents eleven months into office, a new report has shown.
An analysis into the conduct of lawmakers in the bicameral shows a wide disconnect between the expectations of Kenyans and the legislative output since September 2022 when the MPs were sworn into office.
Mzalendo Kenya, a non-partisan watchdog with seeks to promote public participation in parliamentary process, noted in a report published on Wednesday that lawmakers were out of touch with key concerns including the high cost of living.
Other causes legislators failed to give due attention according to the report are the high rate of unemployment, prolonged drought, insecurity, the Shakahola cult deaths and the cost of energy.
"There has been a mismatch between citizens' expectations and Parliament's actions," Mzalendo Trust Executive Director, Caroline Gaita, said.
The report noted that lawmakers instead advanced a pro-Executive legislative agenda with members often voting along party lines without considering public participation to understand the expectations of Kenyans.
"Whereas citizens have invested heavily on public participation, the results have not been reflected in the most anticipated legislative proposals," Gaita explained.
The 2023 Parliamentary Scorecard covering the period between 29th September 2022 to 30th June 2023 shows that the two Houses considered a total of 66 Bills.
Voting along party lines
The report singled out the National Assembly for adopting the Finance Bill, 2023, with little amendments despite vehement opposition against punitive tax measures from key stakeholders.
The conduct of the lawmakers while debating and voting the bill portrayed political chicanery, Mzalendo noted, that showed lack of objectivity in debating the proposals of the Bill.
Mzalendo also put Senators on the spot for shooting the Division of Revenue Bill 2023 that had proposed an additional allocation of Sh22 billion to counties.
Senators rejected a Sh407 billion allocation to the counties, retaining a Sh385 billion county revenue share as proposed by the Treasury and approved by the National Assembly.
A vote to have the Division of Revenue Bill amended to increase the amount to Sh407 billion suffered a 22-9 defeat.
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Overall, the National Assembly considered thirty-five out of sixty-six bills considered in Parliament with twenty-nine of these originating from within the House and one from the Senate.
Senate, Mzalendo reported, considered thirty-one bill two of which originated from the National Assembly.
Mzalendo's report comes at a time observers have expressed concerns over Parliament's independence warning of potential risk on critical oversight functions.
Critics have singled out the practice of whipping of members to vote along party lines with little regard to public participation saying it had reduced lawmakers to mere "voting machines".
With Parliament entering its second year in September, a raft of constitutional amendments could be on the way to adopt proposals made by President William Ruto in his December 9, 2022, memo to the legislature.
Ruto's proposals include implementation of the two-thirds gender rule, entrenchment of the National Government Constituency Development Fund (NG-CDF), National Government Affirmative Action Fund (NGAAF) and Senate Oversight Fund in law as well as establishment of the Office of the Leader of Official Opposition.
