Nakuru Town West Member of Parliament Samuel Arama has faulted a recent report on MPs who have not made any contribution on the floor of the House.
In an interview with this writer, Arama who is serving his third term said leadership is judged by performance in the constituency and not necessarily how many times one has contributed on the floor.
He added as members of Parliament they have been playing oversight through various departmental committees.
“The floor of the House is meant for debate. As members we play our oversight role in the committees and when the motions are brought to the committee of the whole house, some us had already put our input at committee level,” he said.
The MP called on individuals behind the report to also visit constituencies and do their research as far as development is concerned.
The report indicated that fifteen MPs have not made any contribution on the floor of the House since they were sworn in.
The report by Mzalendo Trust, its first scorecard of the 13th Parliament, said the 15 legislators who have not spoken include MPs who have been highlighted in previous scorecards of the 12th Parliament as having not made a single contribution.
The 2023 Parliamentary Scorecard covers the period between September 29, 2022, to June 30, 2023.
The report also named eight MPs who are yet to make a maiden speech in the House.
Mzalendo Trust is a parliamentary monitoring organisation started in 2005 and whose mission is to promote ‘open, inclusive, and accountable parliaments in Kenya and Africa.
The Parliamentary Scorecard is an annual ranking of performance by the Members of Parliament (MPs)-both the National Assembly and the Senate.
First published in 2014, the ranking is strictly based on the performance of the MPs inside the Parliament and more specifically in the plenary.
While noting that the facility can disinfect more than 3000 people in a day; Arama said that does not stop the locals from observing the government advisory on masks, social distance and other measures.
