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How Citizens Can Put Their Representatives to Task
The 13th Parliament kicks off the fourth session on Tuesday, 11th February 2024 marking the mid-point of its term. Stemming from enhanced and robust civic engagement from Kenyans, the last session saw a surge in Kenyans’ interest in the legislative processes, particularly the public participation process. This saw an increase in the number of Kenyans submitting their views on different legislative proposals, during the public participation window.
However, there were also growing concerns on the levels of participatory governance in the country, as most Kenyans felt that their views were not captured and their sentiments reflected in the consequent legislative output, despite their participation. Whilst we saw a different approach to public participation during the consideration of the motion on the impeachment of the then Deputy President, and Parliament recognises so,little can be said on the general inclusion and consideration of the views of Kenyans on other pertinent legislative issues.
As Parliament resumes its plenary sittings this week, it continues to be the aspirations of many Kenyans that the fourth session would be characterised by meaningful public participation, where the feedback from Kenyans is considered, less quorum hitches, clear separation of powers between the three arms of government, especially on the oversight mandate of Parliament, and improved expedience in solving issues that Kenyans continue to highlight, including the reconstitution of IEBC.
How can you then continue to exercise your mandate as a “watcher of the watchdogs?”
The Constitution of Kenya entrenches the principle of public participation in government decision-making processes, including the legislative processes in Parliament. As a citizen, you can submit your views during the public participation window for every legislative development of interest. You can leverage the power of numbers, by engaging your community to collate views, for them to be articulated by your representative (MP/Senator/Women Rep) at the committee or plenary level. This participation can be physical, where you present your views orally during the public participation sessions, or via written form known as a memorandum to Parliament. The Senate also organizes public engagement sessions at the county level known as #SenateMashinani and you can attend these sessions to share concerns on specific matters. It is not rare for submissions to be dismissed based on technicalities such as the format they are written. Here, we provide a guide on how to draft a memorandum to the National Parliament.
Secondly, you may submit a petition through your representative (MP/Senator/Women Rep) or the Speaker of the House. Article 119 of the Constitution guarantees every person the right to petition Parliament on any matter of concern. Through this process, you can formally raise grievances or instigate action on public issues. This can be through an ordinary petition or a petition for the removal of a member of a Constitutional Commission as highlighted in Article 251 of the Constitution of Kenya. You can therefore draft a petition on a pertinent issue in your locality for it to be tabled and considered by the Public Petitions Committee who will put to task the responsible institutions. The petition will be considered by the relevant Committee and thereafter, a report is shared with the petitioner on the matter. Learn how to draft a petition here.
You can also request your representative to address an emerging issue in your locality or region through a request for a statement from the responsible institution that will be responded to by either, the Cabinet Secretary during question time session in plenary or through a committee statement response. This response tabled by a committee chair is a result of the Committee’s engagement with the responsible institutions who answer questions raised in the statement and draft a report for tabling and record-keeping.
The Committees of Parliament work for you; therefore, you have the leeway to write directly to a committee to bring their attention to an emerging issue. Specific mandates are vested in the various committees established in both Houses of Parliament. As a citizen, you can write to the Chair of a committee to address issues you have raised. You are entitled to a response in the form of a report.
If you have identified legislative gaps in a particular issue, area or sector or you have an idea on a specific issue, you can draft a legislative proposal and request a Member of Parliament or Committee chair to champion its passage.
Follow through Parliamentary sessions. You can track what Parliament will be discussing through the Order Paper, which Mzalendo shares daily on its platforms and attend a session that is of interest to you. Alternatively, you can follow the sessions through Mzalendo’s live coverage of Parliament on our social media platforms. Through these avenues, you can monitor your representative’s legislative performance, including their legislative output (the Bills & Motions they table) and how they vote on different Bills and other crucial legislative matters.
With all these avenues, there are challenges that you may encounter in the process. These may include:
Bills are taken through a structured process before ultimately becoming law. [From pre-publication stage, tabling, public participation, debate through all stages, concurrence (if necessary) to Presidential assent]. It is also important to note that there is a likelihood that private member Bills take longer to conclude compared to Government-Sponsored Bills, as the government legislative agenda is often given priority. Last year for example, the Sugar Bill 2022 which was a private-member Bill, was assented to by the President after two years in Parliament.
Delays are also experienced in committees. For instance, the 2024 Parliamentary Scorecard highlighted significant delays by the Public Petitions Committee in considering petitions committed to it and tabling reports. As it stands more than 40 petitions are still pending before this committee, a problem that has continuously been highlighted by the Speaker of the National Assembly.
Parliament consists of members from across the political divide and there is a likelihood that the interests of political parties may take precedence over other business on the floor of the House.
It is also likely that you may not receive a response upon submission of your memoranda, but we encourage you to follow through and review the final Committee report to see if any of your proposals were incorporated or dismissed. The Committees sometimes include all public opinions in the final report, along with an indication of whether they were adopted or rejected.
The fourth session presents a renewed opportunity for you to engage your representatives in Parliament, through several channels and ways as discussed above. A fundamental aspect of democracy and participatory governance is meaningful and informed public participation, and citizen driven accountability in governance processes. You must continue to be vigilant in playing your crucial role as an active citizen in shaping responsive policies in the country.
Categories: Open Parliaments eye on Parliament Kenya Parliaments
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