Senate fails to muster 15 lawmakers for second week despite 689 pending matters

Wednesday's sitting was cut short after senators failed to turn up in sufficient numbers to conduct business, disrupting a session in which Cabinet Secretaries were expected to respond to questions raised by the lawmakers themselves.

“Honourable senators, there being no quorum having rung the bell pursuant to Standing Order 40(2), the Senate stands adjourned until later today at 2.30pm,” Senate Speaker Amason Kingi announced.

Energy Cabinet Secretary Opiyo Wandayi, Defence CS Soipan Tuya, Cooperatives and MSMEs Development CS Wycliffe Oparanya and Lands CS Alice Wahome had been scheduled to appear before the House.

The four were expected to address a range of concerns, including stalled development projects, inadequate urban infrastructure, business losses during demonstrations and the space debris that landed in Makueni County.

The latest adjournment mirrors a similar incident last Wednesday, when the Senate also failed to raise quorum, disrupting scheduled appearances by Environment CS Deborah Barasa, Prime Cabinet Secretary Musalia Mudavadi and Roads CS Davis Chirchir.

The repeated disruptions come at a time when the House is grappling with a substantial backlog of legislative and oversight business.

Last week, Senate Majority Leader Aaron Cheruiyot revealed that 63 Bills, 30 motions, 18 petitions and 578 statements were awaiting conclusion, bringing the total number of pending matters to 689.

Among the pending legislative proposals are the Public Participation Bill, the Referendum Bill and the Cooperatives Bill, which Cheruiyot said should be concluded before the Senate proceeds on its December recess.

“We do not want people to have the impression that this House does not process statements. Those statements are all before the various committees,” Cheruiyot said.

The quorum challenges have also extended beyond plenary sittings to Senate committees, raising concerns over the pace of parliamentary oversight.

On Monday, Nairobi Governor Johnson Sakaja was forced to wait for nearly two hours after the Senate Public Accounts Committee struggled to assemble enough members for his scheduled appearance.

The incident underscored the difficulties facing committees tasked with scrutinising public expenditure and holding government officials accountable.

The attendance problems have persisted despite senators returning from a four-week recess barely a week ago.

Ahead of the resumption of sittings, Speaker Kingi had urged lawmakers to improve attendance and accelerate the processing of pending business.

However, with two consecutive Wednesday sittings disrupted by a lack of quorum and the December recess approaching, the Senate faces mounting pressure to clear its legislative workload and fulfil its oversight responsibilities.