Senators were forced to end their session prematurely after three cabinet secretaries failed to show up for questioning.
The Speaker of the Senate Amason Kingi on Wednesday, July 26 said it was impossible to proceed with the crucial session in the absence of the ministers.
“I am afraid we will not be able to proceed with this session as none of the CSs is present today to respond to these questions,” Speaker Kingi told the House.
The Cabinet Secretaries who did not show are Alfred Mutua of Foreign Affairs, Susan Nakhumicha of Health and Florence Bore of Labour.
According to the senators, the cabinet secretaries demonstrated disrespect for snubbing the summons and undermining their mandate.
Moreover, CS Bore sent an apology saying that she was to accompany the Head of State to Tanzania for a working trip.
On the other hand, Dr. Mutua of Foreign Affairs was expected to address the issue of the Kenyan pastoralists who were arrested in Uganda for crossing over in search of pasture.
The Health CS Susan Nakhumicha was to state the measures the Government has put in place to ensure that reproductive health services are accessible to persons with disabilities.
Furthermore, she was to provide a list of all the medical facilities equipped with friendly infrastructure for people living with disabilities.
Senate Majority Leader Aaron Cheruiyot castigated the cabinet secretaries saying the house will not condone the trend.
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“If indeed a CS is unable to attend such a session, courtesy demands that they write to the Senate in good time so that the Senate can rearrange its business. Writing to the Senate a few hours to the sitting shows discourteousness and certainly, as an institution, we are not going to tolerate that,” Cheruiyot added.
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Oversight role
The senators revealed that most Cabinet Secretaries do not appear before the Senate when invited to take accountability of their roles given to them to serve Kenyan.
Treasury Cabinet Secretary Njuguna Ndung’u was accused of failing to appear before a senate committee that was set up to probe the issue of retired teachers who missed their retirement benefits.
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CS Nakhumicha was also called out for skipping sessions with the health committees, despite overseeing a crucial docket.
Additionally, the lawmakers noted that Trade CS Moses Kuria was the most notorious at not honoring Senate invites.
However, the legislators commended Interior CS Kithure Kindiki for appearing before the house whenever he is invited.
