Mzalendo Trust recently unveiled its improved website that features detailed data on Kenyan legislators’ performance. This data includes their voting data so far into the 13th Parliament term, their plenary contributions, their committee membership and biographical data. This website is a recent upscale of Mzalendo’s civic tech innovation and work that has been going on since Mzalendo’s inception in 2005.

One of Mzalendo’s flagship research products is the annual parliamentary scorecard, which has, since 2014, enabled Kenyans to gauge the performance of their representatives in line with the Constitutional mandate. With the improved website, Kenyans can now assess their MPs’ output on a daily basis with prompt updates on their plenary contributions and decisions. The power now sits in Kenyans’ hands, essentially, we are saying, Scorecard ipo mkononi.

Why is this data important, and does it matter? (Mandate vs Execution)

Taking into consideration the roles of a Member of Parliament – legislation, oversight and representation – the data offers a weighing scale of sorts for Kenyans to assess the output, conduct and efficiency of their member.

The data lets you in on the official activities of your "mjumbe", juxtaposing/contrasting the efficacy against their constitutional mandate.

On representation

The website features members’ plenary contributions on the individual profiles of the 349 National Assembly Members and 67 Senators. These contributions are captured on the Mzalendo searchable Hansard. They demonstrate how well members articulate Kenyans’ concerns and aspirations during debates and how they consequently translate the same into legislative proposals. They do so by contextualising their contribution on a niche issue facing all Kenyans, their region of origin or the demographic they represent. Some even initiate the tabling of legislative business, in parliamentary terms, sponsor a bill or motion. These contributions are key interventions that ensure that Kenyans’ voices are represented in the diversity of opinion. Ideally, members should be routinely consulting their constituents to ensure their contributions reflect their priorities, interests and desires.

Another set of data that demonstrates the undertaking of this role is voting. A vote is a clear pronouncement of a member’s stance on a subject matter before the House. Whether in support or objection of an issue or even abstaining, voting is a means through which they express their position and ideally should be making clear the voice of the people they represent. Absence during voting essentially denies Kenyans an opportunity to influence policy and shape how they are ruled.

On Legislation

Legislation is the process of making or enacting laws. Through legislation, we breathe life into policy ideas and give the roadmap for an idea that addresses a particular need to be actualised. Sound legislation can only be achieved by a member’s attendance during debate, understanding the issue being debated and making well-informed submissions through citizen engagement and after consulting their constituents.

It, therefore, goes without saying that Members who through a year or even a full 5-year term without uttering a word do a great disservice to Kenyans, especially their constituents. In the 12th Parliament Hon. George Aladwa (Makadara) and Hon. Oscar Sudi (Kapseret) never made a single contribution throughout the five years. Yet during that term, a total of 52 Bills and 65 Motions were processed in the National Assembly . This was also a period when the world and country had been hit by the unexpected Covid-19 pandemic, human rights violations and corruptions were rife, and Parliament’s intervention and voice was much needed. This means that for a full-term, constituents of Makadara and Kapseret did not have their issues presented before Parliamentary chambers by their representatives and the laws passed were not inclusive of their direct interests.

The work of an MP is the constant reading, researching, engaging and speaking within the chambers where expression and silence equally carry weight. Where decisions with deep implications on Kenyans and their sovereignty are made. Parliament is the institution where Kenyans' dreams are actualised.

Kenya’s current national health insurance was borne out of the Social Health Insurance Fund Act of 2023 that replaced the National Health Insurance Fund (NHIF). That is a clear demonstration of the power and direct impact of legislation on Kenyans’ lives.

Certain aspirations, such as the right to access information were given life in the Legislature while others remain hanging high up in the sky like the two-thirds gender principle.

Through exercising the roles of legislation and representation, Parliamentarians also get to allocate public resources at both the national and county levels. This process of resource allocation should not be conducted in a vacuum and instead should be characterised by inclusive and intentional civic and stakeholder engagement, use of data and weighing the country’s standing in terms of public debt management, curbing corruption and transparency and openness indexes.

On Oversight

Parliament is tasked with exercising oversight over national revenue and its expenditure, reviewing the conduct in office of the President, the Deputy President and other State officers and initiating the process of removing them from office and exercising oversight of state organs.

Key instances where Parliament exercises its oversight authority are during vetting of nominees to various government agencies, departments and ministries, proactive and reactive questioning of duty-bearers on pressing issues and being the authorities to question the progress of implementation of Parliamentary resolutions. This role is exercised in both plenary (floor of the house) and in committees. Members of Parliament are tasked with being the last line of defence for Kenyans to ensure that officials of high calibre, integrity, technical know-how and professionalism take up key duties in government agencies and independent commissions and remain answerable to Kenyans.

Unfortunately, Parliament has, over the years come under sharp criticism for being merely a rubberstamp for the Executive’s wishes, rarely questioning nominees or conclusively leading investigations into cases where injustices have occurred. Parliament equally falls short on calling out government excesses, such as the resource spending and leading the fight against corruption. In contrast, Parliament approves budgets without an ounce of care, often at the detriment of Kenyans.

Taking into consideration these critical roles, data becomes useful in weighing how responsive, effective and proactive a Member of Parliament is. It goes a long way in demystifying the common notion that MPs’ effectiveness is measured by the level of development one has initiated or implemented. Where development is concerned, Parliamentarians, working closely with Ministries, are tasked with identifying a problem, developing the legal framework that gives life to solve it, overseeing its proper and quality implementation, being guardians of transparency and equity and evaluating if it solves the problem.

It is important that we are reminded of this to ably measure the performance of representatives as their time winds down and to inform the choices we make at the next ballot. As an institution, Mzalendo commits to continue advancing values of openness, accountability and transparency within our Legislature through innovation and making Parliamentary information accessible to citizens.

We call on Kenyans to engaging with our data and helping us improve our civic tech tools to enhance citizen participation in our governance particularly in Parliamentary affairs and decisions.