The 11 MPs from North Eastern Kenya who
travelled to Somalia on Saturday will not be punished, National Assembly
Speaker Justin Muturi has ruled.
Mr
Muturi said that although Standing Order 260 requires members of the
House traveling outside the country, whether in official or private
capacity, to seek permission from the Speaker, it does not provide
sanctions for those who flout it.
“Whereas
there are no sanctions against members who fail to inform the Speaker
whenever they travel out of the country, I urge you to live up to the
spirit of Chapter Six of the Constitution,” Mr Muturi told the House.
The
requirement to notify the Speaker is a matter of civility, and to
ensure that the Office of the Speaker can account for the whereabouts of
any MP who is out of the country.
The
legislators, who travelled to Somalia are Ahmed Kolosh (Wajir West),
Ibrahim Abdi (Lafey), Rashid Kassim (Wajir East), Mohamed Hire (Lagdera)
and Omar Maalim (Mandera East). Others are Bashir Abdullahi (Mandera
North), Adan Haji (Mandera West), Kullow Maalim (Banisa), Adan Ali
Sheikh (Mandera South), Ahmed Bashane (Tarbaj) and Mohamed Dahir
(Dadaab).
Although Mr Bashir said
that they met Somalia President Abdullahi Faarmajo over the escalating
insecurity in the region due to Al-Shabaab attacks, it is also claimed
that they met the head of the Somalia National Intelligence Agency, a
claim they have denied.
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Interior
secretary Muriithi Kangi, who spoke at JKIA after the MPs’
interrogation, said that the MPs should have sought approval from the
Ministry of Foreign Affairs before traveling.
Despite
the MPs claiming their trip was motivated following a challenge by
President Uhuru Kenyatta on the need to address security situation in
the volatile region that has since seen schools close down as Al Shabaab
targets nonlocal teachers, Mr Muturi was of a different view.
Despite
the MPs claiming their trip was the result of a challenge by President
Uhuru Kenyatta to the region’s leaders to help deal with insecurity, Mr
Muturi said theirs was not a parliamentary delegation.
“A
parliamentary delegation is formally constituted and officially
communicated to the foreign country which is scheduled to be visited
through my office or that of the Clerk of the National Assembly ,” he
said, noting that such delegations are either fully or partially funded
by the National Assembly.
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