A section of Senators on Wednesday launched scathing attacks on the Cabinet Secretary for Lands, Alice Wahome, for failing to appear before parliament for questioning.
Wahome had written to speaker Amason Kingi on Tuesday evening, claiming that she would be travelling out of the country.
However, the lawmakers led by Senate Majority Leader Aaron Cheruyiot, described Wahome’s decision to skip Senate’s summon as a disregard for the institution’s authority, warning that continued tolerance of such behaviour could undermine its functionality.
“I have seen the letter purporting that she has travelled out of the country. Did she just realize last night that she will be travelling? This is serious contempt against Parliament,” Cheruiyot stated.
“As an institution, how do you expect us to function if barely a few hours to your appearance before Parliament, you’re writing to us letters? CS Alice Wahome needs to know that she’s no longer the Member of Parliament for Kandara; she’s a minister of the Republic of Kenya,” he added.
Cheruyiot further urged speaker Kingi to adopt a previously passed report that proposes fining public officials who fail to honor parliamentary appearance.
“I would like to urge you, we have already passed that report in this house, it is you to adopt and guide the House so that you can lead us to make the necessary amendments that we need to do so that people can begin to treat this house with the seriousness that it deserves,” he told Kingi.
On his part, Nairobi Senator Edwin Sifuna expressed disappointment with CS Wahome, insisting that those serving in crucial dockets like Land and Health should never miss summons.
He added that the scheduled discussions on the alleged land grabbing in Nairobi was a serious issue that needed urgent responses.
“These are urgent matters, even if she wasn’t able to come, let her give us written responses so that we can see what the situation is for these parcels of land,” Sifuna said.
