National Assembly Speaker Moses Wetang’ula on Tuesday, January 28, 2025, called for the restructuring of committees whose tenures had expired.

Speaking during the mid-term retreat for members of the national assembly, Wetang’ula announced that 18 committees needed immediate restructuring when House business resumes.

While terming committees as the engine of parliamentary work, he called on House leadership to pick new leaders based on their dedication, competence, and accountability.

Wetang’ula urged the Leader of the Majority Party, Kimani Ichung’wah, and the Leader of the Minority Party, Junet Mohamed, and their respective Whips to expedite the process of restructuring the said committees.

“I hereby direct the Majority Leader and the Minority Leader to move in earnest and reconstruct the 18 committees whose life has come to an end with the last session,” Speaker Wetang’ula stated during the official opening of the 2025 mid-term retreat for members of the national assembly.

“Now get ready to bring to House Business the new list of members to various committees, so that we can process and have new leadership or continued leadership with the committees taking into account, as you say, performance, regular attendance of committee meetings, and the industry to which you put in those attendances,” he added as shared by Parliament of Kenya.

He emphasized the importance of ensuring that the committees are fully functional and aligned with the objectives of the House by the time it resumes its sittings.

He further encouraged Members to take their Committee responsibilities seriously, emphasizing that the effectiveness of the House largely depends on the commitment and performance of its committees in discharging their mandates.

The reconstitution process, he added, should ensure fairness and inclusivity while maintaining a strong focus on the expertise and contributions of individual members to maximize the productivity of the House.

The 18 committees

Sessional committees are among those whose tenure has lapsed and they include the House Business Committee (HBC), Powers and Privileges Committees, Procedure and House Rules Committee and Members Services and Facilities.

The others are in appropriation and general purposes committees which comprise of Public Accounts Committees (PAC), Budget and Appropriations Committee, Public Debt and Privatization Committee.

Public Petitions Committee, Committee on Implementation, Committee on Delegated Legislation, Regional Integration Committee and National Cohesion and Equal Opportunity also fall into this category among others.

“You know none of you can be denied a membership of at least one or two committees, the work is going to be done by your leadership. Please don’t visit the office of the speaker and ask him to help to be placed in any committee because he has no such capacity,” Wetang’ula explained.

Ichung’wah assured Wetang’ula that the majority party was working on finding replacements for those committees before the resumption of sittings.

“We are currently working on their replacements and will communicate the same at the appropriate time so that we fill the gaps that are available as well as leave some positions for members who will be joining us after the by-elections,” Ichung’wah emphasised.