On 22 November 2018, MPs were reported to have slowed down committee work in protest over delayed sitting and mileage allowances, with some foreign trips also pushed back because of what sources inside Parliament described as Exchequer-related problems.
The dispute cut across both the Senate and the National Assembly, where lawmakers were said to have stayed away from some committee meetings for about two months because facilitation had not been paid on time. National Assembly Minority Leader John Mbadi, the Suba South MP, was among those whose travel was reportedly cancelled, and his trip was said to have been moved to February. He declined to comment when reached for response.
The issue became public after Endebess MP Robert Pukose raised it on the floor of the House. He said the Energy Committee had been especially affected because members were not turning up for sittings when allowances were unavailable.
“When we go for any committee retreat nowadays, we are not facilitated. Members are not given their sitting allowance,” he protested.
Pukose warned that Parliament could move to reconstitute the Parliamentary Service Commission if it failed to take MPs’ welfare seriously. He said the commission should be given notice and replaced if it was not able to ensure members were properly facilitated.
National Assembly Clerk Michael Sialai rejected the claims, insisting there was no cash crunch in Parliament. He said funds were available for planned parliamentary business, including committee operations, and added that any pending travel or sitting allowances were only those submitted during the week and still being processed.
Sialai said delays could be linked to Central Bank of Kenya guidelines requiring allowances to be paid through bank accounts rather than in cash. He added that pay advice slips for sitting allowances for October had already been issued.
Despite that denial, committee chairpersons privately said the problem was real and had affected attendance. One chairperson said reimbursement delays had discouraged some members from attending sittings, while another said MPs had been forced to finance their own committee work for the previous two months.
The strain was also said to have reached Parliament staff in the secretariat, who reportedly had to spend their own money while carrying out official duties away from Parliament Buildings.
