Africa-Press – Kenya. President William Ruto has urged the Members of the County Assembly to amend the standing orders to allow County Executive Committee members to appear before the assembly for accountability.
Speaking when he met the MCAs at State House on Monday, Ruto said the move would encourage oversight among the leaders.
He asked the MCAs to emulate Parliament where CSs appear for questioning regarding affairs of their dockets.
“I want to encourage the MCAs to amend the standing orders so that CECs can come to the floor of the county assembly and be held accountable,” he said.
Ruto said that the CECs will have to comply with the directive or be ready to resign.
CSs have been appearing before the plenary of the National Assembly every Wednesday afternoon to answer questions from Members.
This follows an adoption of the Report of the Procedure and House Rules Committee that amended various sections of the Standing Orders to allow the CSs to physically appear before the House and answer questions.
The legislators amended Standing Order 25A to allow a Cabinet Secretary to expound on government policy, reply to questions and provide reports concerning matters under their docket.
Standing Orders are the rules and regulations that govern the conduct of House businesses and provide for the establishment of various offices and their mandates.
During the opening of the 13th Parliament in 2022, Ruto asked Parliament to consider putting in place a mechanism in the Standing Orders to facilitate CSs to articulate government agenda as well as explain government policy.
This, President Ruto held was in a bid to enhance Executive accountability to the people of Kenya through their elected representatives.
“I believe that our government will become more responsive, accountable and effective when it is subjected to rigorous oversight. There is tremendous benefit in experiencing checks and balances in the course of policy implementation,” the President’s Memoranda read in part.
Ruto held that an additional benefit of Executive participation in Parliamentary business is the transparency of public proceedings, which can close the information gap between citizens and government, thereby enhancing trust.
“For these reasons, I recommend and request that Parliament considers formulating a mechanism within its Standing Orders to facilitate the participation of Cabinet Secretaries and Chief Administrative Secretaries in Parliamentary proceedings, particularly by responding to questions raised by MPs.”
Currently, the CSs respond to queries through Committees that then submit their findings or reports to the whole House.
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