MPs must behave if we have to work with them – Senators

The Senate has declared that it will not cooperate with the National Assembly, even as the rift between the two houses continues to widen. Senators led by the Speaker Ekwe Ethuro who spoke in Mombasa on Saturday, demanded that the National Assembly should stick to its constitutional mandate and stop interfering with the Senate’s operations.

The Senators, continue to play hard ball with their colleagues in the National Assembly. They have now slammed the door on mediation and declared a battle to reclaim their turf.

“Unless it (National Assembly) changes its ways of operation which allegedly contradict the constitution, we will not work with them,” said Ethuro.

“We do not need to cooperate in any way with the National Assembly. They are constantly interfering with the Senate mandate, and that is not acceptable. National Assembly will only work with Upper House if it conducts itself in a respectful manner.”

The leaders also took  issue with what they termed as open undermining of devolution by MPs and a section of Governors who they claim have misplaced priorities in the governance of their counties.

“We are shocked to discover that MPs were out to undermine the process of devolution,” said Makueni Senator Mutula Kilonzo Junior.

Tharaka Nithi Senator Kithure Kindiki accused the National Assembly of “holding a lot of money yet the county governments were suffering and in dire need of more cash to accomplish their mandates.”

The bad blood between the Senate and the National Assembly has been fuelled by recent amendments of the Division of Revenue Bill where the National Assembly slashed the budgetary allocation for the Senate by one billion shillings.

Alex Kubasu contributed to this report