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Revealed: MPs who’ve never said a word in parliament

From left: Kapseret MP Oscar Sudi, Nakuru West MP Samuel Arama and Kilgoris MP Gideon Konchella. They are among 21 legislators who did not utter a single word in Parliament. PHOTOS | FILE | NATION MEDIA GROUP

By  Nyambega Gisesa

What you need to know:

  • MPs who have never uttered a word at the Plenary include Nakuru Town West MP Samuel Arama and his Kapseret counterpart Oscar Sudi.
  • Other silent MPs include Abdi Tepo (Isiolo South), Abdi Shurie (Balambala), Ahmed Gaal (Tarbaj), Johnson Naicca (Mumias West) and Amin Deddy (Laikipia East).
  • The best performing MPs at the National Assembly were Millie Odhiambo (Suba North), David Sankok (Nominated), Wilberforce Ojiambo (Funyula), Robert Pukose (Endebess) and Benson Makali (Kitui Central). 

Your legislator may be among MPs and Senators who have never uttered a single word at the floor of the August House despite Kenyan representatives being among the highest paid parliamentarians in the world.

According to the Annual Parliamentary Scorecard for the third Session of the 12th Parliament released yesterday, a total of 21 members did not utter a single word during the entire session.

Of the 21, 19 are from the National Assembly with two being from the Senate. Male legislators dominate the list.

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MPs who have never uttered a word at the Plenary include Nakuru Town West MP Samuel Arama and his Kapseret counterpart Oscar Sudi who while being vocal in other matters outside the August House, find no words inside parliament as legislators debate serious issues concerning their constituents.

The other silent MPs include Abdi Tepo (Isiolo South), Abdi Shurie (Balambala), Ahmed Gaal (Tarbaj), Johnson Naicca (Mumias West), Amin Deddy (Laikipia East) Geofrey Kingagi (Mbeere South), James Gakuya (Embakasi North), George Aladwa (Makadara) and John Owino (Awendo).

The rest are Stanley Muthama (Lamu West), Gideon Konchella (Kilgoris), Justus Kizito (Shinyalu), Alfred Sambu (Webuye East) and James Mukwe (Kabuchai).

Rose Museo (Makueni), Beatrice Kones (Bomet East) and Amina Gedow (Mandera) were the silent women in the House.

BEST PERFORMERS

In a report released Wednesday morning by  Mzalendo Trust, a Parliamentary monitoring organisation, the best performing MPs at the National Assembly were Millie Odhiambo (Suba North), David Sankok (Nominated), Wilberforce Ojiambo (Funyula), Robert Pukose (Endebess) and Benson Makali (Kitui Central). 

The leading lights at the Senate were Ledama Ole Kina (Narok), Moses Wetangula (Bungoma), Aaron Cheruiyot (Kericho), Ochilo Ayako (Migori) and Getrude Musuruve (Nominated). 

Millie Odhiambo, Jacqueline Oduol (Nominated), Jennifer Shamala (Nominated), Ruweida Obo (Lamu) and Sophia Noor (Ijara) were the top-performing women in the National Assembly.

The scorecard, released annually, aims at enhancing transparency and accountability and is based on members’ contributions in Plenary as captured in the Hansard. 

“Every so often, we get queries from members about the performance of their MPs. The scorecard is therefore a way of enforcing the social contract between MPs and the electorate, as they exercise delegated authority on behalf of the citizens,” Mzalendo Trust Executive Director, Caroline Gaita, said.

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