‘Parliaments’ sovereignty and privileges under attack’

Members of Parliament from Kenya on the Committee of Powers and Privileges have raised concern over the unrelenting attack of the powers and sovereignty of the various parliaments across the continent by other arms of government and the public.
This was raised in a meeting between the Members of Parliament from the Kenya National Assembly when they called on the Speaker, Rebecca Kadaga  Tuesday, 13 August 2019.
The leader of the delegation, Hon Vincent Mogaka said that it is common place for the courts of law to reign in on many of the privileges of the Parliament which largely affects the work of MPs.
Members of the Committee which is charged with the privileges and immunities said that Parliament in Kenya had been stripped of certain privileges in 2018.
“We are no longer protected from being served when in the precincts of Parliament or when Parliament sessions are taking place something that was overturned by the Courts,” Mogaka said.
He added that, “It has also been declared unconstitutional for parliamentary committee rulings not to be discussed by other public forums as previously held”.
Mogaka said that the issue of the powers of parliament being challenged affects many other parliaments that they have visited on the continent. He added that the phenomenon arises from the fact that people fail to understand the uniqueness in workings of parliament.
Kadaga agreed with the concerns raised by Mogaka saying that it affects Uganda as well.
“Recently, the Court in Uganda made a ruling barring us from determining our emoluments by quoting a Constitution. However, this affects the ability for one to raise a motion if ever it is scrapped,” she said.
Kadaga added that many of the lawyers out there may not properly understand the way parliament carries out its work and the rules protecting it.
“The people who represent us like Attorney General may not quite understand the inner functioning because they have not been in parliament,” Kadaga added.
Kadaga said that she has been involved in different impasses with government and the public constantly watering down the rules and privileges of Parliament.
“The Attorney General has turned down the assistance of our lawyers before only to eventually concede after struggling to interpret rules and privileges of parliament,” the Speaker added.