MPs race against time to vet officials

Members of the National Assembly yesterday hurriedly vetted 29 Principal Secretary nominees, just hours before they break for the long December break, beginning today.

Various House committees of the National Assembly held the vetting in Parliament Buildings and in hotels in Nairobi in a bid to conclude the exercise before the House goes on recess.

MPs who spoke on condition of anonymity said they had been instructed to conclude the vetting yesterday ahead of the tabling of the report today in the morning and debate in the afternoon.

“We have been given clear instructions to ensure that we prepare our report today (yesterday) so that we can table them tomorrow (Thursday),” said one of the members.

The rush to have the committees approved came hours after MPs approved a motion by Leader of Majority Kimani Ichung’wa seeking to have the House have a sitting today (Thursday) morning to ensure they deal with the approval of the PSs as well as deal with the petition seeking the removal of four commissioners of the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC).

Table report

The vetting process of the Principal Secretaries, which had been stopped by a court following a petition filed by the Law Society of Kenya, resumed after the High Court dismissed the case.

Speaker of the National Assembly Moses Wetangula, directed that the process resumes today and all the remaining nominees be vetted and a report tabled today.

“I direct that the suspension of the vetting of persons nominated to serve as Principal Secretaries is hereby lifted. The Committees are therefore expected to resume the vetting process immediately,” he said.

He directed all Departmental Committees to conclude the vetting and approval hearings as soon as possible.