Nairobi — Members of the National Assembly will Tuesday convene in Nakuru for a five-day legislative retreat to plan legislative priorities for the upcoming Fifth Session of the August House, 2026.
The meeting aims to consolidate the work of the 13th Parliament as it enters its Fifth Session.
The National Assembly conducts a Members' retreat before the commencement of a session as a tradition to strategically reflect, align, and forward-plan in the discharge of its constitutional Mandate.
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Speaker of the National Assembly, Moses Wetang'ula, who will preside over the convocation, has signaled that the House must now move swiftly to conclude critical business with direct bearing on the lives of Kenyans.
"We are entering the 'Golden Hour' of the 13th Parliament. This retreat is critical and offers an opportunity for us to refine our legislative priorities," noted Speaker Wetang'ula.
Themed "Securing Parliamentary Legacy: Delivering the Fifth Session's Agenda and Preparing for Transition," the retreat comes at a pivotal moment with the 2027 General Election on the horizon.
Lawmakers are expected to balance the weight of their mandate against the constitutional timelines and a concluding term.
Key issues expected to be addressed include a review of the performance of the National Assembly over the past four sessions of the 13th Parliament.
Members will also share experiences and challenges encountered during this period and deliberate on the way forward. The forum will further consider the House's proposed legislative agenda, including priority Bills and business expected during the Fifth Session.
Lawmakers are also expected to assess preparedness for the next General Election and identify necessary legislative interventions to strengthen electoral reforms.
In addition, the meeting will seek to strengthen strategic partnerships with key stakeholders to enhance collaborative nation-building efforts. Other matters on the agenda include Members' welfare, institutional facilitation, and ways of enhancing cohesion and synergy between the leadership of the House and its Members.
"We must ensure that the transition to the next electoral cycle is anchored in legal frameworks that command public trust," he guided.
Speaker Wetang'ula said that the country's electoral readiness will top the agenda during the retreat as the House leadership and Members will engage the new Chair of the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC), Erastus Edung Ethekon, and the Registrar of Political Parties, John Lorionokou.
The legislators are expected to tackle issues including boundary delimitation, a thorny constitutional deadline, and the perennial challenges of political party financing.
The Speaker emphasised that the retreat will also serve as a performance audit for two of the government's social pillars: healthcare and education.
Health Cabinet Secretary, Hon. Aden Duale, is expected to face questions about the implementation of the Social Health Authority (SHA).
This forum will offer Members an opportunity to seek clarity on service delivery gaps and the sustainability of the Social Health Insurance Fund (SHIF), as citizens continue to report challenges in accessing healthcare.
On education, the implementation of the Competency-Based Education (CBE) system will be under the microscope. 10 years after its conceptualization, the 2-6-3-3 structure still faces infrastructure and teacher-to-student ratio hurdles that the Members of the National Assembly intend to address through targeted legislative interventions.
"The Cabinet Secretary for Education last appeared in plenary of the National Assembly on 5th November 2025 to provide the status of disbursement of Capitation Funds to Schools, which had not received funding for the second and third terms,"
" Members will have an opportunity to assess the current status of CBE implementation and address its challenges, with a view to identifying legislative interventions to strengthen the sustainable delivery of the curriculum, " said Speaker Wetang'ula.
The National Treasury Cabinet Secretary, John Mbadi, is scheduled to brief the lawmakers on the prevailing economic outlook. This comes as the House prepares to exercise its constitutional mandate in budget-making, navigating the 2025/2026 supplementary budget while laying the roadmap for the 2026/2027 cycle.
Key on the fiscal radar is the privatization of State-Owned Enterprises (SOEs). Following the enactment of the Government-Owned Enterprises Act, 2025, the House will review risk management strategies to ensure that the divestiture of public assets does not compromise the public interest.
Given the Rapid Digital Transformation, the retreat will dedicate a session to Data Protection and Cybersecurity. As parliamentary operations move toward complete digitization, the House is looking to insulate its systems and citizens' private data from the rising tide of cyber threats and the unregulated expansion of Artificial Intelligence.
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Speaker Wetang'ula noted that the progress made in enacting the National Government Constituencies Development Fund (NG-CDF) will be considered following recent judicial pronouncements over its constitutional status and implementation framework.
"Members are expected to deliberate on mechanisms to safeguard NGCDF and NGAAF while aligning the Fund with constitutional principles and evolving governance realities,"he said.
Speaker Wetang'ula added that the retreat's outcome will define the National Assembly's final session priorities and shape its legacy.
"The Fifth Session is the final stretch of this Parliament's term. Our duty is to consolidate our achievements, complete legislation priority, and reinforce Parliament's role as the people's primary institution of accountability and governance," he said.
Participants in the Retreat will include the Presidium, Commissioners of the Parliamentary Service Commission (PSC), the Leader of the Majority Party, the Leader of the Minority Party and their Deputies, the Majority and Minority Party Whips and their Deputies, and all Members of the National Assembly, as well as senior parliamentary staff.
