mzalendo :: Eye On Kenyan Parliament

First, a huge bouquet to Mwalimu Mati and other members of the Kenyan civil society for saying enough is enough and taking Kenyan MPs to task for the proposed gratuity payment that amounts to Kshs 1.4 billion. It is encouraging to see Kenyans saying enough is enough and visibly demonstrating their dismay with the shenanigans of the Ninth Parliament. We hope other Kenyans will lend them their support…we must demand accountability from our PUBLIC servants.

Not only does the proposal tantamount to theft of public funds, particularly in light of the already hefty salary that MPs get and their continued refusal to take attendance and debate in Parliament seriously, it also smacks of extreme DISREGARD for the very people who put them in office.

Second, a huge barb to the government, which overreacted to the protest and arrested four of the organizers Mwalimu Mati, Cyprian Nyamwamu, Anne Njogu, and Okoiti Omtatah. As of Tuesday evening, the four have yet to be charged although Minister Michuki is supposedly preparing to charge them with incitement to violence. How a peaceful protest equates to incitement to violence is beyond us…perhaps the silver lining in this is that it has provided the campaign with increased local and international publicity.

Finally, we URGE Mzalendo users to support the protest in your own small way by letting your MP know exactly how you feel about the proposed gratuity by leaving them a comment on their profile and letting them know that their support for the payment will be remembered come voting time. We at Mzalendo will try to gather details about which MPs have lent their support to the proposal, such as MP Mardsen Madoka.

EDIT: You can footage of the protests here.

The media has recently done a good job at highlighting the poor attendance record of Kenyan MPs even during critical debates like the presentation of the budget. Most MPs are busy trying to figure out which party will be their ticket for 2007.

Some startling revelations:

- Debate on the budget speech was concluded on the fifth day instead of the traditional seventh day, because there were no members to contribute. Most of the taxation measures were passed without the requisite quorum.

- While the MPs recently shot down a proposal to allow live coverage of Parliamentary proceedings, they want to do away with the quorum requirement during debates.

- Most of the parliamentary committees, which typically have 11 members have failed to meet because they could not raise the required quorum of three.

We’re now up to 608 aspirants in the searchable database. As usual, if you have more information, let us know