The first-term MP wrote to the Clerk of the National Assembly declining to appear before the House team which was scheduled a meeting with him Thursday afternoon/FILE
NAIROBI, Kenya, Jul 14 – Ugunja MP Opiyo Wandayi has turned down an invitation to appear before the National Assembly Committee of Privileges which is deliberating the admissibility of a court order for his re-admission to the House.
The first-term MP wrote to the Clerk of the National Assembly declining to appear before the House team which was scheduled a meeting with him Thursday afternoon.
In his two paragraph letter, the Ugunja MP who on Tuesday gave House Speaker Justin Muturi 24 hours to allow him back into the House or face contempt proceedings for disobeying a court order simply stated “Please, note that I does not wish to appear before the said Committee.”
“I wish you well, all the same,” he signed off in his letter dated July 13.
Senior Deputy Clerk of the National Assembly Michael Sialai on Monday wrote to Wandayi informing him of the sitting.
“This is to inform you that the matter of your suspension from the service of the House on March 31, 2016 has been referred to the Committee of Privileges. The Committee wishes to provide you an opportunity to be heard on the matter on Thursday July 14, 2016 at the National Assembly Speaker’s Boardroom at 2.30pm,” read the letter dated July 11, 2016.
Speaker Muturi referred the matter to the Privileges Committee after High Court Justice George Odunga temporarily suspended his March 31 directive that barred Wandayi from Parliament until February.
Wandayi was among Opposition MPs ordered out of Parliament after they disrupted President Uhuru Kenyatta’s State of the Nation address by persistently blowing whistles.
Section 10(4) of the National Assembly (Powers and Privileges) Act (Cap 6 Laws of Kenya) provides as follows; the Committee of Privileges shall, either of its own motion or as a result of a complaint made by any person, inquire into any alleged breach by any member of the Assembly of the Code of Conduct issued under Section 9, or into any conduct of any member of the Assembly within the precincts of the Assembly (other than the Chamber) which is alleged to have been intended or likely to reflect adversely on the dignity or integrity of the Assembly or the Member thereof, or to be contrary to the best interests of the Assembly or the members thereof.
The Committee of Privileges shall, after such inquiry as is referred to in sub-section (4), report its findings to the Assembly together with such recommendations as it thinks appropriate.
The National Assembly Speaker directed Committee to table its report on Tuesday next week.
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