The rivalry between the two Houses of Parliament has taken a new twist after Members of the National Assembly accused senators of taking over their functions.

Angry Members of the National Assembly told their speaker, Moses Wetangula, to issue a communication on what exactly constitutes the mandate of the Senate and the National Assembly in order to avoid the ongoing confusion.

Specifically, the members want Wetangula to clarify whether the Senate is right in summoning Cabinet Secretaries yet their mandate is to oversight counties.

The sentiments by the members started after Molo MP and chairperson of the Departmental Committee on Finance and National Planning Kuria Kimani said it has been difficult for them to carry out our oversight role with Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs) and Semi-Autonomous Government Agencies (SAGAs) as senators are inviting and summoning the officials to the extent of fining them.

Sibling rivalry

“The Senate should be busy overseeing the use of funds by county governments and making sure that devolution works,” Kuria insisted, adding that the Executive spend so much time before those Committees that they hardly have any time to honour invitations by the Departmental Committees of the National Assembly who are their overseers.

This is not the first time that the sibling rivalry between the two Houses has emerged since the ushering in of the 2010 Constitution.

A year ago, Chief Justice Martha Koome and Supreme Court justice gave the lawmakers a chance to deal with their issues after senators moved to court to challenge the passage of the Finance Act, 2023 and the Water Act by the National Assembly.