Senate absenteeism weakens oversight as backlog of Bills grows

The Senate is facing growing disruption in its core oversight and legislative duties as repeated absenteeism among lawmakers and Cabinet Secretaries continues to force adjournments, stall accountability sessions, and leave a rising pile of unfinished business.

Plenary sittings and committee meetings are increasingly being derailed, with lack of quorum and missing government officials becoming a common feature. The situation has hit hardest on days set aside for Question Time, where senators are supposed to question Cabinet Secretaries on public issues.

Instead of structured accountability, sessions often fail to proceed because either senators do not show up in sufficient numbers or invited officials fail to attend.

The delays have weakened the impact of Question Time, with senators saying responses arrive too late to remain relevant.

“When they finally appear, often months later, their responses are stale because events have already overtaken the issues,” a senator told the Star.

Committee work has also been affected, with meetings frequently cancelled due to poor attendance or absent witnesses. Cabinet Secretaries, Principal Secretaries, governors, and heads of state agencies have increasingly skipped summons, frustrating oversight work.

“This trend is unacceptable. We summon officials here to answer to the people, not to play hide and seek with Parliament,” a committee chairperson said.

The problem has also been visible in plenary sittings, where quorum failures have led to repeated adjournments. Since February, at least five sittings have collapsed due to lack of numbers or absence of members expected to move business.

In some instances, Question Time has been skipped entirely after Cabinet Secretaries failed to appear. Even parliamentary whips and their deputies, who are expected to ensure attendance, have occasionally been absent.

“We cannot continue blaming the Executive when we ourselves are not present to transact business. It is a collective failure,” another senator admitted.

To improve accountability, the Senate recently revised its rules to introduce Wednesday morning sittings dedicated to ministerial questions. However, the changes have not yet improved attendance or productivity.

During a recent sitting, Speaker Amason Kingi ordered the quorum bell rung for several minutes in an attempt to gather members, but the House still failed to proceed and was adjourned.

“Honourable senators, there being no quorum and having rung the bell pursuant to Standing Order No 40(2), the Senate stands adjourned until later today,” Kingi ruled.

That day, Labour and Social Protection CS Alfred Mutua was present and ready to respond, while Mining, Blue Economy and Maritime Affairs CS Hassan Joho had sent apologies.

On March 4, proceedings also collapsed despite the presence of Agriculture CS Mutahi Kagwe and Youth Affairs, Creative Economy and Sports CS Salim Mvurya.

“It is disheartening to come prepared to answer questions only to find there is no House to address,” a government official said.

Similar disruptions were recorded on February 11 and March 25, when sittings failed either due to absent senators or missing members scheduled to move business.

On April 1, another sitting failed to reach quorum, affecting appearances by Trade CS Lee Kinyanjui, Agriculture CS Kagwe, and East African Community CS Beatrice Askul.

Non-attendance by Cabinet Secretaries has further worsened the situation. On April 22, Cooperatives CS Wycliffe Oparanya failed to appear, while earlier in March both Oparanya and Kinyanjui skipped committee sessions. Joho also missed a sitting in mid-March, while the Education CS was absent on February 25.

Committee work has been particularly affected, with meetings often cancelled due to low attendance. Officials summoned to appear sometimes ignore invitations without immediate consequences.

National Treasury CS John Mbadi has repeatedly been summoned by the Finance and Budget Committee and faces possible fines of up to Sh500,000 and censure for failing to appear over issues including delayed pensions and stalled rural electrification programmes.

“We cannot allow public resources and critical programmes to stall because officials refuse to appear before this House,” a committee member said.

Trade CS Kinyanjui has also faced repeated criticism over failure to appear before the Trade Committee since early 2025.

Meanwhile, the Senate is dealing with a heavy workload. There are 64 Bills pending, with 47 at second reading, 16 at Committee of the Whole stage, and one awaiting first reading.

There are also 17 motions and 18 petitions pending, along with 15 petitions awaiting committee reports and 503 statements yet to be handled.

“The backlog is growing daily. If this continues, we risk paralysing the Senate’s legislative function,” a parliamentary insider warned.

Observers now say stricter enforcement of attendance rules is needed to restore order and strengthen oversight.