Kenyan’s President William Ruto’s plan to establish an oversight fund for senators now lies in limbo following renewed rivalry between members of the National Assembly and Senators.
Senators led by Speaker Amason Kingi on Wednesday, February 1, protested against what they termed as contempt from members of the National Assembly and an alleged attempt to shoot down the establishment of the fund.
Speaking during a seminar in Mombasa County, the senators also accused the National Assembly of sidelining them in the legislation of crucial laws in Kenya and plotting to arm-twist the Senate.
“The leadership of the National Assembly has been talking in a vilifying tone against the Senate. There is nothing we are begging from the National Assembly,” Allan Cheruyoit, the Leader of the Majority in the Senate, noted.
Consequently, they vowed to oppose a move aimed at entrenching the National Government-Constituency Development Fund (NG-CDF) in the constitution.
A section of the senators, instead, proposed to have the CDF run by county governments and leave MPs with the exclusive responsibility of oversight.
“What we do not want is the unhealthy noise from the National Assembly,” Kakamega Senator and Majority Whip Bonny Khalwale stated.
However, Speaker Kingi called for calm among the senators and proposed a roundtable to iron out the challenges surrounding the creation of the oversight fund.
Speaking at the start of a two-day post-election seminar for the Senators in Mombasa, Kingi cautioned them against “making it a public issue”.
The development came amid a proposed constitutional amendment to have the NG-CDF entrenched in the constitution in the National Assembly.
In September 2022, President William Ruto made public his agenda of pushing for the establishment of the Senate Oversight fund during an address to MPs. Later in December, the President wrote to the speakers of both houses to formally request consideration of his proposals.
The Head of State in his letter noted that the creation of the funds, alongside a raft of other proposals would enhance the capabilities of the legislature in providing oversight to the government.
In reaction to the letter, National Assembly Speaker Moses Wetangula directed the Justice and Legal Affairs Committee (JLAC) to consider the proposals and conduct public participation on the matter.
