Do We Really Need Our Parliament?
By Donald Kipkorir
Each year, we allocate Kshs.40Billion to our Parliament. We allocate them this money in the belief and understanding that they will carry out their Constitutional mandate.
Articles 95 & 96 Of the Constitution gives Parliament, FIVE basic duties:
1. Make Laws .. not tell us what they mean … Make laws and leave the rest to High Court to interpret.
2. Allocate and appropriate public revenue .. And without political or tribal bias.
3. Oversight the Government Institutions and State Organs .. Genuinely and without rent-seeking. You don’t invite a Minister or State Corporation CEO with so much fanfare then on being paid, praise them.
4. Hold All State Officers from the President to the lowest & if need be remove them … And without being motivated by tribal revenge or on hire.
5. Declare War or State Of Emergency …. Though none of our neighbors will really invade us in the unforeseeable future.
Our Parliament is not to engage in any other activity like cheerleaders, running Ponzi schemes, money laundering, interpreting laws or competing on loyalty pledges.
Kshs. 40B will cover the budgetary allocation for Police & Military modernization, National Forensic Laboratory, Securing Of our borders, Attorney General’s Office, Police Life Insurance, EACC, Assets Recovery Authority and still have change to complete Cheptongei-Kitale Tarmac Road!
As my friend, Dr. Ekuru Aukot is collecting signatures to reduce the number of MPs, maybe he needs to revise his Referendum Question to: Do we need our Parliament?
We can as well re-distribute the powers of Parliament to the Executive, Judiciary and County Assemblies.
