Rule of Law, or Rule by Law: A Reflection of Kenya's Parliament on the International Day of Parliamentarism

The International Day of Parliamentarism is a day set aside every year on the 30^th of June, to reflect on the roles of Parliament across the world in advancing democratic ideals, promoting human rights and ensuring oversight and accountability in different processes, institutions and other arms of government. 

In its theoretical architecture, this day ought to serve as a moment of recognition, reflection and recommitment to the ideals of representative democracy in the world. However, in Kenya, this commemoration felt hollow. Instead of examining parliament’s achievements and strides made in amplifying and codifying the aspirations of Kenyans, we were compelled to confront its shortcomings, both structural and systemic. 

So now, more than ever, we Kenyans must ask, can we honestly and in good faith raise applause in Kenya for our parliament and parliamentarians with the current state of things?

“Who does Parliament serve?”

The sanctity of Parliament is derived from it being a House that represents the voices of the people. Parliaments are the heartbeat of democracy, and parliamentarians derive their legitimacy from the people,[1] to represent their needs and address them through their stated mandate of representation, oversight and legislation. Unfortunately, this is seemingly not the case, as Parliament has distanced itself from being the axle of democracy that the Constitution envisioned it to be. Parliament has been complicit in its defence of the constitution, and different parliamentarians have led the onslaught against constitutional values and human rights. 

The recently halted Public Order (Amendment) Bill, 2025, sponsored by the Nairobi County Woman Representative proposed a number of amendments to the principal act, many being new restrictions and penalties for public demonstrations, and limitations to the right to assemble, demonstrate, picket and present petitions, way beyond the spirit and text of Article 24 of the Constitution, which provides for justified limitations to fundamental rights and freedoms. This is after an attempt last year by the now Cabinet Secretary for Public Service, Geoffrey Ruku, in a similar attempt during his tenure as the Member of Parliament for Mbeere North, through the Assembly and Demonstrations Bill 2024. In a country where picketing and demonstrations have offered disenfranchised and often ignored citizens a channel to express their pressing needs and discontent with leadership, these proposals threaten to criminalise dissent and punish citizens seeking accountability from their representatives.

The above proposed legislations are just examples of what has been a streak by Parliament to enable the violation of the Constitution, especially fundamental rights and freedoms, that Parliamentarians swore to protect, promote and uphold. The institution that should have acted as the last line of defence wiggles its way to the front to act as the first line of offence against Kenyan voices.

“I want to repeat it here, in fact, shoot and kill.” 

These were the sentiments of Nelson Koech, Belgut MP and Chairperson of the National Assembly Departmental Committee on Defence, Intelligence and Foreign Relations on 10^th July 2025. The statement Hon. Koech made not subverts his mandate but also betrays the Kenyans who entrusted him with their aspirations, lives and most importantly tasked him the protecting the fundamental rights. The failure of Parliamentarians to exercise their independence and to stand firm in guarding the Constitution is no longer just a threat to democracy but also to the lives of Kenyans. 

“The House of oversight or just a circus box of the executive.”

In its oversight role, the Parliament of Kenya has morphed into a toothless watchdog. Whether it is rubberstamping the appointment of nominees to Constitutional commissions and agencies, passing Bills while disregarding Kenyans views expressed through public participation processes without holding the executive, its members and consequent decision-making to account. 

A recent report by the Auditor General, Nancy Gathungu, indicated that Parliament is being systematically ignored by the Executive, including audit recommendations, with patterns of non-compliance demonstrated by continued wasteful expenditure and unlawful allowances. The report showed that only 21% of parliamentary audit recommendations have been fully implemented, with half completely ignored – a demonstration of impunity.[2] This paints the grim picture of the state of oversight in the country by Parliament, a picture of oversight impotence. 

A more troubling reality, however, is that Members of Parliament seem content with this state of affairs, with a further diminished relevance of Parliament in the democratic governance of the country. Most of the Members have proudly taken their positions as foot soldiers of the executive with teeming loyalty for the broad-based arrangement, and not the Kenyans they are meant to serve. This brings memories of the 12^th Parliament and the diminished opposition following the infamous “handshake” in 2018 between retired President Uhuru Kenyatta and former Prime Minister Raila Odinga. The continued and steady weakening of the Legislature, especially in its oversight powers, brings back the ghosts of the past in Kenya’s history of imperial presidency,[3] a concern shared by some of the speakers at the inaugural AfriPal conference. 

Lessons from AfriPal and the Quest for Democratic and Parliamentary Renewal

The inaugural Africa Regional Conference on Parliament and Legislation (AfriPal) took place from 18th to 20th June 2025 in Kampala, Uganda. The conference, which brought together legislators, academia, students and representatives from Civil Society Organisations, provided a platform for strategic dialogue on parliamentary democracy and legislative affairs across the African Continent. It offered a much-needed space for critical introspection on the state of parliamentary democracy in Africa.

Key takeaways from the conference that could be relevant to Kenya’s current state include:

Parliament has the burden of turning the tide and rebuilding the trust that Kenyans bestowed upon it. It must choose who to serve – Kenyans. This must be reflected in Parliamentary output, especially the Bills that are introduced and passed into law, the sentiments shared by Parliamentarians both within the precincts and outside and strengthening its oversight role to reflect the weight that comes with it and the utilisation of the resources availed by Kenyans through taxes. 

At the heart of this rebuild must be the institutionalisation of Post-Legislative Scrutiny (PLS). This is the process through which Parliament evaluates and examines whether the laws passed have had the intended effects or whether amendments need to be made to mitigate any unintended effects of the laws. It is not enough to legislate; parliamentarians must also scrutinise what they legislate and have legislated. Kenya lacks a robust PLS framework, and so, once a law has been passed, Parliament moves on, with little effort in gathering feedback from the public on what has worked thus far and where changes need to be made. This is legislative abandonment.

Additionally, the Constitution of Kenya envisioned the Kenyan Parliament as a shield for Kenyans, especially against the overreaches of the executive. This has seldom been the case as Parliament has abandoned its oversight role and grown to be a mere appendage of the executive as evidenced in our Annual Parliamentary Scorecards. Members of Parliament in Kenya ought to recommit themselves to the Constitution of Kenya and their constituents, and not the Executive, blurring the lines when it comes to the principles of separation of powers. Parliamentary committees and members tasked with different oversight roles must conduct independent investigations and enforce accountability.

Lastly, the Kenyan Parliament, whilst doing better than some of its peers in the region, needs to embrace more openness. The existing level of openness needs to be extended to livestreaming committee sessions and publishing Hansard reports for the same, ensuring that all documents shared are in machine-readable formats and translating parliamentary documents to Swahili, which is the national language of Kenya.[4] This would consequently bridge the gap between citizens and parliamentary processes and deepen the understanding of Kenyans on legislative processes. 

In conclusion, parliament and parliamentarians need to put in a lot of work to reclaim their legitimacy and moral authority. There needs to be a complete re-orientation of parliament’s mindset to ensure that the sentiments shared by Members of Parliament align with the text and spirit of the Constitution of Kenya and the hopes and aspirations of Kenyans. The Parliament of Kenya needs to be a House that has its ears out to listen, not curtail dissent. It needs to be a House that guards and protects the Constitution, not one that disregards it.

So let the period following the International Day of Parliamentarism not be a ritual, but a period and time of honest reflection.

Posted by Loise Mwakamba on July 13, 2025

Categories:  Oversight   Parliament independence   International Day of Parliamentarism