Parliament finalises election of watchdog committees that will audit State corporations

Parliament has finally completed the composition and election of watchdog committees that will audit different State corporations.

The committee elections had been delayed as the Azimio coalition members tussled over who would lead the seven watchdog committees.

In the elections held on Thursday, Pokot South MP David Pkosing was elected chairman of the Public Investment Committee (PIC) on Commercial and Energy Affairs. The third-term legislator will be deputized by Rangwe MP Lilian Gogo.

Pkosing will steer the 15-member committee that is expected to oversight over 120 crucial parastatals under sectors such as  Roads, Transport, Energy, Petroleum, National Treasury,  ICT, Communications, Water, Irrigation, Forestry and wildlife, Trade and industry.

“Our first order of business will be to hold a meeting with the speaker so that we can regularize the list of the state parastatals we are supposed to scrutinize. Parastatals such as the Kenya Revenue Authority and the Central Bank of Kenya which should be under our ambit are not captured in the list,” said Pkosing.

Notably, the Public Investments Committee that operated in the previous parliament has been split into three namely Commercial Affairs and Energy, Governance and Education, and Social Welfare and Agriculture. 

The Social Welfare and Agriculture Committee leadership was taken by Navakholo MP Emmanuel Wangwe who was elected unopposed while Caleb Amisi was elected vice chair.

“I urge members that we drop our political inclinations and conduct committee business im[partially. The work of this committee supersedes any political interests because our duty is to safeguard the interest of Kenyans,” he said. 

His committee will be over sighting approximately 127 State parastatals.

In the PIC committee on Education and Governance, Bumula MP Jack Wamboka was elected as the chair, one of the few first-time MPs who has been elected to chair a committee to be deputized by Samburu West MP Naisula Lesuuda.

The Decentralized Funds Committee will be led by Mwingi Central MP Gideon Mulyungi while the Special Funds Committee that was set aside for independent members will be led by Migori Woman Representative Fatuma Zainab.