NAIROBI, Kenya April 10 – Speaker of the National Assembly Moses Wetang’ula has cleared the way for Cabinet Secretaries to appear before the House Plenary to respond to questions as well as provide reports sought by Members.
Wetang’ula clarified that Principal Secretaries and Chief Administrative Secretaries will not be allowed under the amended Standing Orders to appear before the House to answer questions raised by members.
“To the Cabinet Secretaries that there will be no room for delegation of anybody to appear before to this House to answer questions on their behalf. Each Cabinet Secretary is obligated under the Constitution to come to the House in person and answer Questions or expound policy in their docket in response to Questions raised by Members,” the Speaker directed.
The new procedure which is similar to the Question Time session which existed under the repealed Constitution provides for a Member to deliver a signed copy of the proposed question to the Clerk, who shall process it.
The amended Standing Orders give priority to questions and reports by Cabinet Secretaries every Wednesday afternoon for a period not exceeding three hours.
Wetangula stated that the amended Standing Order 32 has varied hours of sitting on Wednesday afternoons from 7 p.m. to 9 p.m. to allow adequate time for MPs to dispense with Questions.
The Speaker says he hopes the new procedure will enhance the Executive’s accountability to the National Assembly.
