The 12th Parliament resumes with a plate full of activities

The National Assembly Public Accounts Committee is investigating the whereabouts of Sh 1.3 billion collected by the Covid-19 task force to cushion Kenyans against the pandemic. This follows revelations by the Treasury PS Julius Muia that the ministry was not part of the board nor aware of the whereabouts of the money collected by the task force established by President Uhuru Kenyatta.
Speaking when he appeared before the committee, the PS revealed that the monies are not reflected in the Treasury’s accounts. It was also revealed that despite President Uhuru Kenyatta directing the Ministry to come up with an emergency fund, the National Treasury was not included in the formation of the board of the same.
It was revealed that on June 12th 2020, the fund registered a private company and named it the Kenyan Covid-19 Emergency Fund Limited, which continued collecting public funds.

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The Ministry of Health is on the spot over the distribution of ventilators in hospitals without ICU capacity. Health PS Susan Mochache was, on Thursday, tasked by the National Assembly Public Accounts Committee to explain what informed the decision on procurement and distribution formula for 100 ventilators. In the audit report presented to the committee, the ministry procured 100 ventilators from Gradian Health Systems. At the time of the audit, 75 had been distributed as per instructions.
According to Mochache, the distribution to counties was based on the disease burden and demand for the ventilators. The committee demanded an explanation, citing Mama Lucy Kibaki Hospital, which received 18 ventilators, and Ruiru Level IV which received five ventilators without an ICU at that time.

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Thousands of graduates from local and foreign universities whose academic papers were certified and regularised by the Kenya National Qualifications Authority (KNQA) are staring at uncertainty after it emerged the powers to regularise papers by the authority are not backed by law.
It emerged during a parliamentary committee meeting on Thursday that the gazette notice published by the Education Cabinet Secretary in 2018 conferring the powers to KNQA on certification of academic papers were not considered by lawmakers as required by law. The National Assembly Public Investments Committee (PIC), in a meeting with the KNQA observed the authority has been performing the function, which is not backed by any law.
Committee chair and Mvita MP, Abdulswamad Nassir, pointed out that before any regulations come into force, they must be considered by the Committee on Delegated Legislation and passed by the House. 

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National Assembly Speaker Justin Muturi has backed proposals for a new independent body to scrutinise audit reports on the use of the multibillion-shilling National Government Constituency Development Fund (NG-CDF), citing conflict of interest in the current review arrangement. 
Currently, the fund is managed by committees at the constituency level under the area MP’s patronage. This has raised concern as the NG-CDF is audited by the Auditor-General who then reports to Parliament annually—a scenario that risks watering down accountability.
He challenged public finance watchdogs, including the Auditor-General, the Controller of Budget office, the Institute for Certified Public Accountants of Kenya (ICPAK), and the Institute for Social Accountability (Tisa) to explore alternative channels to oversee the NG-CDF.

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President Uhuru Kenyatta on Thursday at State House, Nairobi signed the recently enacted Political Parties (Amendment) Bill of 2021 into law. The parliamentary bill was approved by the National Assembly over the Christmas and New Year festive period before being referred to the Senate where it was passed Wednesday.
The new law amends the Political Parties Act of 2011 by introducing the concept of coalition political parties, outlining functions of political parties as well as changing the criteria of accessing the Political Parties Fund.
The law also empowers the Registrar of Political Parties to certify political party membership lists and nomination rules among other transformative provisions aimed at strengthening management of political parties and enhancing democracy.

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