Let’s Be Real Education Matters in Policy Making

Most of us have only guessed at it but it turns out educated legislators actually perform better than less educated ones. While compiling Parliament’s annual scorecard, we realized that education played an important role in the quality of debate argued by an individual on the floor of the House

For instance, the top five best performers in the National Assembly in the year 2015 all have a postgraduate degree. Indeed this is also true of the Senate where most members are educated; the quality of debate is above average.

The link between academic background and fruitful contributions in Parliament comes out more because one’s education indirectly influences their capacity to handle their Parliamentary responsibilities – representation, oversight, budgeting and legislation. As such, MPs with lower educational qualifications may not be able to lead parliamentary committees or handle responsibilities that require heavy borrowing from their academic background. The MP may also be unable to present the constituency needs due to intimidation or lack of capacity.

It’s getting clearer that law makers who performed rather poorly have questionable academic backgrounds and it appears a number of them either bought those qualifications or simply go through the process to acquire the papers for political expediency hence the lack of substance in their contributions. Perhaps the electorate may need to be wary of individuals who acquire degrees or diplomas in a short record or in institutions that are not reputable.

Nonetheless, every market has its mad man and in our report, we identified three well educated legislators among those who contributed nothing for the 12 months that they were in Parliament.

This oddity could mean that these elected leaders have very little interest in their elected positions and won their seat by virtue of their party popularity in their constituencies only. Perhaps they were lured to Parliament by the connections and power it brings rather than the need to serve their constituents.

In 2013, The Economist revealed that Kenyan MPs are amongst the highest paid law makers in the world compared to the country’s Gross Domestic Product. That 27 MPs have been receiving salary including sitting allowances for contributing absolutely nothing for 12 months is audacity of a new kind.

Even more surprising was the fact that five MPs had not uttered a single word since the life of the 11^th Parliament begun in 2013. Either these MPs represent regions that are flourishing and their constituents are satisfied or they are clueless about the expectations their constituents have of them.

How do you watch your colleagues debate bills, bring amendments or oppose them while you sit in silence for three years? That their conscience does not prick them is even more disturbing.

Is it time Kenyans gave life to the Right of Recall clause to keep Parliamentarians in check? These findings should be a wakeup call to our lawmakers; we are watching them keenly and hope that the electorate will act decisively when the time comes.

Posted by Mzalendo Editor on March 11, 2016

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