Senators have warned National Treasury Cabinet Secretary John Mbadi to stop treating the Senate as “a village baraza”, where he can decide whether to appear before them or not.
The development comes after the minister snubbed the Senate Finance and Budget Committee invitation on the consideration of budget policy statement (BPS) and medium-term debt management strategies.
The lawmakers were incensed at the CS after he kept them waiting on Tuesday without any explanation only to later send his responses.
The committee members unanimously resolved to reject the responses, insisting that the CS must appear before them.
Reading the riot act, Mandera Senator Ali Roba, who doubles up as the committee’s chairperson, said they will not tolerate errant ministers who snub committee appearances on crucial government matters.
He pointed out that the Senate enjoyed a good working relationship with Mr Mbadi’s predecessor, Professor Njuguna Ndung’u, who honoured invitations to appear before the committee several times.
“We enjoyed a cordial working relationship with Prof Ndung’u who never failed to appear before us. We hope CS Mbadi has not carried the mentality of the National Assembly in the delivery of his mandate as a cabinet secretary,” said Mr Roba.
“We are not a baraza where he just opts not to appear but sends responses,” added the senator.
Kakamega Senator Boni Khalwale said the committee will not entertain rogue ministers even if they are also part of the broad-based government but stick to ensuring the government delivers.
“I hope Mbadi is not having what Americans call the feel-good effect. We will help you remember that while discharging our mandate, we are blind to broad-based government intrigues,” said the Senate Majority Whip.
Reached for comment, the Treasury CS said that despite not appearing before the committee, he shared his presentation with the senators which he urged them to adopt.
“I don’t think failure to appear before the committee will have any effect on their report. I shared my presentations which can enrich their final report,” Mr Mbadi said.
The CS said he had already appeared before the National Assembly for the same BPS, calling on the two houses to work harmoniously and share information made by ministers appearing before Parliament.
“I think the two houses should share the information to save Cabinet Secretaries from appearing in both houses to share the same information,” he said.
The Senate has, in particular, been embroiled in a tussle with certain CSs over their failure to appear before the House or committees to answer questions concerning their ministries.
The tough relationship stems from the constant snubbing of their invites with the enraged legislators who have often threatened to censure the ministers or fine them for non-appearance.
Speaker Amason Kingi has always urged the senators to invoke Standing Order 51(d) where if a CS fails to appear before the House for purposes of answering questions and does not give satisfactory reasons, then a motion of censure shall ensue.
The Standing Order provides that if a cabinet secretary fails to appear and respond to questions in the Senate without reasonable cause, the Senate can move a motion to censure the CS.
This is to ensure that CSs are compelled to attend and where they fail to do so, there is in place, a mechanism to ensure they are penalised for such non-attendance.
