National Assembly Speaker Moses Wetang’ula/FILE
National Assembly Speaker Moses Wetang’ula has launched stinging attack on MPs, accusing some of the lawmakers of rent-seeking and exerting undue influence on state agencies during hiring processes.
This comes amid plans to kick out lawmakers opposed to the broad-based government from key Parliamentary committees.
The reconstitution of the committees is ongoing ahead of the resumption of the house business early next month.
On Tuesday, Wetang’ula accused some unnamed committees of unethical conduct bordering on rent-seeking and undue influence on employment.
The Speaker said it had become routine for heads of State agencies to be summoned by multiple departmental committees whenever vacancies arise in their institutions, a move he said was aimed at influencing hiring decisions.
“My attention has been drawn to a peculiar and concerning trend that has been exhibited in some of our committees. Whenever there has been a pending employment process within our public institutions, the heads of those institutions are repeatedly invited to appear before multiple committees on the same matter,” Wetang’ula said.
“While oversight is a constitutional duty of this House, it must be exercised without creating the perception of undue pressure or causing administrative paralysis.”
The speaker spoke when he presided over the opening of the 2026 legislative retreat for Members of the National Assembly.
He cited the Teachers Service Commission (TSC) and National Police Service (NPS) as some state agencies that have found themselves before multiple committees at the same time during hiring.
“For example, the Inspector-General of Police and the Teachers Service Commission have, on occasion, been subjected to multiple summons over similar issues, with reports and concerns subsequently escalated to my office. I urge committees to coordinate their work, avoid duplication, and ensure that oversight enhances governance and facilitates service delivery,” he said.
Wetang’ula warned that the practice undermines professionalism and meritocracy in public service, noting that it places agency heads under pressure to appease legislators rather than follow the law and established recruitment procedures.
Deputy Speaker Gladys Boss said it is time the House considers merging some of the committees with almost similar roles to avoid the duplication.
“There is therefore need to review our Rules of Procedure to address this grey area. It may be necessary to merge some of the committees whose mandates are not distinct or may seem to overlap in order to resolve this question and any other,” she said.
He further accused some committees of harassing members of the Executive who appear before them, saying they still have ‘welfare teams’ that harass witnesses.
“I have told some of your colleagues before that I get a lot of complaints of some of us bullying members of the executive who appear before us, some of us constituting welfare officers in our committees and all those kinds of things, which I discourage you,” he said.
His remarks come amid growing concern over allegations of political interference and corruption in public sector hiring, with Wetang’ula warning that continued abuse of committee powers could erode public confidence in Parliament
Last year, President William Ruto called out MPs for what he termed as rising cases of extortion and corruption in Parliament.
The development comes at a time the Star has learned about a planned purge of some MPs critical of the broad-based government from key house committees.
According to Parliamentary sources, ODM and UDA are quietly planning a major shake-up in National Assembly committees, in a bid to discipline members who defied the broad-based arrangement during recent by-elections.
Some of the lawmakers said to be staring at the chopping board for opposing broad-based candidates include Antony Kibagendi (Kitutu Chache), Clive Gisairo (Kitutu Masaba) and Patrick Osero (Borabu).
Kibagendi is poised to be removed from the PIC Education Committee and Governance Committee where he is currently serving as the Vice Chair. He is also a member of the Health committee.
Gisairo is expected to be removed from the Education Committee, while Borabu MP Osero is likely to be dropped from the influential Education and Research Committees.
The purge is also expected to target PSC Commissioners where Nyali MP Mohamed Ali and Nyamira Senator Okong’o Omogeni are targeted for having spearheaded campaigns in Magarini and Nyamira County against their parties’ preferred candidates.
UDA accuses Ali of defying the broad-based deal by campaigning for DCP candidate Stanley Kenga in the Magarini parliamentary contest.
ODM, meanwhile, faults Senator Omogeni for openly backing rival parties in Nyansiongo, Ekerenyo, and Nyamaiya wards.
The changes, according to multiple sources, will be effected when the house resume sittings on February 10.
Speaking during the retreat in Naivasha, Clerk of the National Assembly Samuel Njoroge told members that some of the committees that were split in to three have a sunset clause and thus it will be upon them to decide whether to extend their timeline or not.
The initial PIC which was having 250 State Corporations to deal with in a financial year was split into the Public Investments Committee on Commercial Affairs and Energy, the Public Investments Committee on Governance and Education and the Public Investments Committee on Social Services Administration and Agriculture.
Njoroge further said that they are scrutinizing whether some of the committees formed have served their purpose.
“We need to re-look at the rules of procedures popularly known as the standing orders. Remember we split committees like PIC and we now have three. What we need to ask ourselves is whether they achieved their intended purpose taking cognisance of the fact that there is a sunset of having three committees,” he said. Njoroge underscored the need for the House to consider entrenching impeachments procedure into its standing orders.
He noted that currently National Assembly borrow from the Senate or rely on past ruling by the House when faced with an impeachment motion.
“We need to qualify the impeachment in our standing orders; the Senate has already qualified this. Every time we are faced with impeachment, we go to the Senate and the speakers’ rulings,” he stated.
INSTANT ANALYSIS
The 2026 Members’ retreat provides an opportunity for the leadership of the House and members to comprehensively review the performance of the House during the past four sessions of the 13th Parliament.
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