MPs on the spot over poor attendance of house proceedings, reading reports

The National Assembly speaker, Moses Wetangula, has said that poor attendance by Members of Parliament has caused unnecessary delays in conducting house business.

The speaker also said that Parliament has done poorly in terms of considering or even noting the information contained in reports submitted by Commissions and Independent Offices.

Wetangula said that in the past seven months, the August House has experienced serious quorum hitches.

“As you are aware, we have in the recent past experienced quorum hitches even on priority business of the House and in some cases the relevant Chairpersons of Committees fail to move matters that fall under their mandate in the House,” said Wetangula.

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He said that despite MPs having constituency duties, they must not abdicate their duties in the house.

He said that the Chairpersons of Committees must prioritize the legislative and oversight roles of the Committees both within and outside the Chamber.

“At the last seven months, we have had the issue of quorum-hitches. Whereas as your Speaker, I appreciate that you also have duties in the constituencies, you must also ensure that you do not abdicate your duties in the House,” said Wetangula.

He asked the Committee Chairpersons to whip their members to ensure they attend the house proceedings.

The speaker said that even as the MPs anticipate a busy schedule s in the constituencies in the coming months, the legislatures must create a healthy balance between constituency duties and their roles in the Chamber and the Committees.

“Members must strive to create a healthy balance between constituency duties and their roles in the Chamber and the Committees and avoid causing unnecessary delays in transacting House business,” said Wetangula.

He said that Parliament has done poorly in terms of considering or even noting the information contained in reports submitted by Commissions and Independent Offices.

He said that the said reports are gathering dust in the stores of Parliament instead of being leveraged upon to inform the decisions we make while considering the budget and legislation affecting these critical constitutional bodies.

“I would urge that, as part of the deliberations of this retreat, we conclude by crafting a tangible mechanism of prioritizing and processing the backlog of these reports and a structured manner of incorporating the information received in our interactions with Commissions and Independent Offices,” said Wetangula.

Minority Leader in Parliament, Junet Mohammed, said that in recent years, more than a dozen pieces of legislation have had certain provisions declared unconstitutional by our courts.

Mohamed said the provisions remain on the statute books until Parliament takes action to amend or repeal them.

“This creates confusion in the application of the law and undermines the clarity of our legal framework. As the leadership of Parliament, we must establish a clear and efficient mechanism to ensure that whenever a court declares a law unconstitutional, prompt steps are taken to align our statutes with judicial determinations,” said Mohamed.