National Assembly Majority Leader Kimani Ichung\u2019wah has issued a stern warning to absentee committee chairpersons and vice-chairpersons, cautioning that repeated absences from House sessions could lead to their impeachment.<\/p>\n
Ichung\u2019wah\u2019s remarks come amid frustration over the absence of members whose questions were scheduled for response by Roads and Infrastructure Cabinet Secretary Davis Chirchir.<\/p>\n
He emphasized that the House should not face quorum issues given that there are over sixty committee chairs and vice-chairs available to meet the necessary attendance for parliamentary business.<\/p>\n
Citing Article 121 of the Constitution, which mandates a quorum of fifty members in the National Assembly and fifteen in the Senate, Ichung\u2019wah underscored the importance of attendance.<\/p>\n
He pointed out that with adequate leadership, the House has enough chairs and vice-chairs to meet these requirements.<\/p>\n
As the National Assembly resumed its sittings following a month-long recess, Deputy Speaker Gladys Boss had to order the quorum bell to be rung when it was discovered that fewer than 50 members were present.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe were in the leadership conference last week, chaired by the Speaker and the Parliamentary Service Commission, where members expressed concerns over attendance, particularly of chairs and vice-chairs,\u201d Ichung\u2019wah stated.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis House has no fewer than 60 committee leaders. We only need 50 members to conduct business.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cIf we include the broader leadership, we have over seventy,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n
With only four weeks remaining until the National Assembly breaks for its long recess, Majority Leader Kimani Ichung\u2019wah has reminded committee chairs and vice-chairs of the looming \u201cpurge\u201d for absenteeism among reasons, signaling that the upcoming sessions will be a critical period of accountability .<\/p>\n
\u201cIf you are a chair or vice-chair of a committee, you must be present in the House at 2:30 PM. There\u2019s no reason for the Speaker to be left waiting for quorum while members are absent, especially those responsible for leading discussions and responding to questions,\u201d Ichung\u2019wah, the Kikuyu legislator, stated firmly.<\/p>\n
He emphasized the importance of attendance, particularly for committee leaders who facilitate House business by responding to questions and providing updates on legislative issues.<\/p>\n
\u201cEven if members submit questions or request statements, chairs and vice-chairs must be here to respond and provide timelines for answers,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n
Ichung\u2019wah further warned that the absenteeism of certain members results in unanswered questions directed to Cabinet Secretaries, which impedes the legislative process.<\/p>\n
Addressing committee leaders directly, he continued, \u201cIf you\u2019re a chair or vice-chair, take your role seriously. Otherwise, there are 280 other members ready to take on these responsibilities.\u201d<\/p>\n
Ichung\u2019wah noted, \u201cIf you don\u2019t have time for the House, do the honorable thing. This is, after all, what Junet Mohamed called a \u2018season of impeachment.\u2019 I\u2019m not encouraging impeachment, but if necessary, let those who neglect their duties face impeachment.\u201d<\/p>\n
Last week, during the National Assembly leadership retreat in Naivasha on Monday, National Assembly Speaker Moses Wetang\u2019ula warned chairpersons and vice-chairpersons of departmental, audit, appropriations, and other select committees, cautioning that they risk removal from their roles if they repeatedly skip House sessions.<\/p>\n
Speaker Wetang\u2019ula emphasized the committee chairpersons\u2019 crucial role in the House, noting that they serve as a key link between the legislature and the executive.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019ve reminded our House leadership including the Leader of the Majority Party and the Leader of the Minority Party that committee chairpersons and vice-chairpersons, many at times, that if you come to the number of chairs of committees and your vice chairs in this House should never lack quorum at any one time,\u201d said Speaker Wetang\u2019ula.<\/p>\n
Addressing the responsibilities of committee leadership, he continued, \u201cAs chairpersons and vice-chairpersons of departmental, audit, appropriations, and select committees, you hold positions of privilege. You receive additional compensation and enjoy travel privileges because you are leaders. The least you can do in return is to consistently attend House sessions and actively push forward parliamentary business.\u201d<\/p>\n
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The post Ichung\u2019wah warns absentee chairs, vice-chairs of impeachment risk<\/a> first appeared on KBC<\/a>.<\/p>\n The post Ichung\u2019wah warns absentee chairs, vice-chairs of impeachment risk<\/a> appeared first on KBC<\/a>.<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" National Assembly Majority Leader Kimani Ichung\u2019wah has issued a stern warning to absentee committee chairpersons and vice-chairpersons, cautioning that repeated absences from House sessions could lead to their impeachment. Ichung\u2019wah\u2019s remarks come amid frustration over the absence of members whose questions were scheduled for response by Roads and Infrastructure Cabinet Secretary Davis Chirchir. He emphasized […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":0,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-101516","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","entry"],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack-related-posts":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/chezaspin.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/101516","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/chezaspin.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/chezaspin.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chezaspin.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=101516"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/chezaspin.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/101516\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/chezaspin.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=101516"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chezaspin.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=101516"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chezaspin.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=101516"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}