Kazo County Member of Parliament (MP) Dan Kimosho has asked Speaker of Parliament Anita Among to ban Opposition MPs boycotting plenary sittings from accessing meals at the Parliament canteen. This proposal comes on the heels of Speaker Among’s request for individual letters from MPs detailing their reasons for boycotting plenary sessions.
During the plenary sitting on Wednesday, Speaker Among said, “While we are aware that some MPs are absent from the House, I have yet to receive individual letters asking for permission to be out of the House. It is a strict liability not to be courteous. We take personal liability; we were voted individually, not as a team, so I am yet to receive from persons who are absent from the House.”
Speaker Among directed the Clerk to Parliament to enforce restrictions on boycotting MPs. She instructed that these MPs should not be allowed to attend Committees or travel abroad.
This latest development stems from an incident in October when Opposition MPs, led by their leader Mathias Mpuuga, staged a walkout during a plenary sitting. The protest was driven by their demand for a government explanation regarding alleged human rights violations against their leaders and supporters, some of whom have reportedly gone missing for several months.
In contrast, Speaker Among argued that the impasse on human rights violations was created by the Executive, not Parliament. She urged MPs not to boycott sittings and to address the matter through parliamentary channels instead.