A recent Parliamentary performance report by Mzalendo, a non-partisan Parliamentary Monitoring Organisation (PMO), has shed light on a significant legislative inactivity issue.
The report reveals that 19 Members of Parliament (MPs) did not contribute to any debates in the National Assembly throughout 2024.
A new report reveals a total of 19 MPs have never contributed to debates in Parliament in 2024.
— Moe (@moneyacademyKE) December 8, 2024
UDA leads with 10 MPs, followed by ODM (4), ANC (2), Wiper (1), DAP-K (1), and Jubilee (1)
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Silent Representatives
Among the most prominent names on this list are Oscar Sudi from Kapseret and George Aladwa from Makadara, who have once again been flagged for their lack of parliamentary participation. The silent MPs represent a diverse range of political parties:
– UDA Party: 10 MPs (the highest number)
– ODM Party: 4 MPs
– ANC: 2 MPs
– Wiper: 1 MP
– DAP-K: 1 MP
– Jubilee Party: 1 MP
Complete List of Silent MPs
Here is the full list of MPs who never contributed to parliament debates in 2024:
| # | Name | Constituency | Party |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Oscar Sudi | Kapseret | UDA |
| 2 | Paul Abuor | Rongo | ODM |
| 3 | Irene Kasalu | Kitui | Wiper |
| 4 | Charles Gimose Gumini | Hamisi | ANC |
| 5 | Joseph Tonui Kipkosgei | Kuresoi South | UDA |
| 6 | Mathia Nyamabe | Kuria West | UDA |
| 7 | Samuel Kinuthia Gachobe | Sabukia | UDA |
| 8 | Patrick Barasa Simiyu | Cherangany | DAP-K |
| 9 | Paul Chebor Kibet | Rongai | UDA |
| 10 | Dana Joseph Hamisi | Nominated | ANC |
| 11 | Joseph Wanaina | Nominated | UDA |
| 12 | Stephen Karani Wachira | Laikipia West | UDA |
| 13 | Mohamed Soud Machele | Mvita | ODM |
| 14 | Irene Njoki | Bahati | Jubilee Party |
| 15 | Alfred Mutai | Kuresoi North | UDA |
| 16 | Patrick Osero | Borabu | ODM |
| 17 | Clement Sloya | Sabatia | UDA |
| 18 | Barre Hussein Abdi | Tarbaj | UDA |
| 19 | George Aladwa | Makadara | ODM |
Laikipia West MP Hon Wachira Karani is listed among the 19 MPs who have never contributed to debates in Parliament 2024. Others listed include Kapseret MP Oscar Sudi and Makadara MP George Aladwa
— LAIKIPIA COUNTY POLITICS (@PoliticsCounty) December 8, 2024
How the Assessment Was Done
Mzalendo‘s evaluation process is meticulous. As they explain,
“Upon collation of all the Hansards for a particular session a calendar year from February to December—the speech counts for each member are generated by Mzalendo’s word-scraper which captures the speech frequencies based on the Hansard entries.”
The organization goes a step further by manually verifying the automatically generated counts to ensure accuracy. They note:
“To ensure that we only rank based on substantive contributions, we also do a manual verification of the Hansard entries to ascertain the automatically generated counts.”
The report emphasizes that speaking in Parliament is crucial for MPs, as it is “one of the core and vital mandates of parliamentarians.” By remaining silent, these representatives fail to express public or constituent views or debate issues of local and national importance.
Limitations of the Scorecard
Mzalendo acknowledges some constraints in their assessment. The rankings cover only plenary proceedings, with the organization noting,
“Information on committees’ proceedings is not as readily available. The limited access thus makes it hard to incorporate them into the rankings.”
This Parliamentary Scorecard is not a new initiative. First published in 2014, the ranking focuses strictly on MPs’ performance inside Parliament, specifically during plenary sessions. Importantly, it does not consider MPs’ engagements outside the parliamentary environment.
