Hansard & Records
All proceedings and debates that take place in the Chambers of Parliament must be in the open, on record, and published in the Hansard reports. In other words, the business of the House and those conducted by Committees must allow for the full participation and input of the public and facilitate public broadcast except in very exceptional circumstances and to which a reason must be given:
118. (1) Parliament shall— (a) conduct its business in an open manner, and its sittings and those of its committees shall be open to the public; and (b) facilitate public participation and involvement in the legislative and other business of Parliament and its committees.
(2) Parliament may not exclude the public, or any media, from any sitting unless in exceptional circumstances the relevant Speaker has determined that there are justifiable reasons for the exclusion.
Click on the following link in Parliament's official website for more on the Parliamentary Hansards of the current (eleventh) Parliament.
Motions
These are proposals made by a member of the House in the debating chamber seeking the adoption of a decision. Motions can be initiated by a member's own initiative or by way of a petition made by a member of the public:
119. (1) Every person has a right to petition Parliament to consider any matter within its authority, including to enact, amend or repeal any legislation.
Indeed, on the 22nd of April 2015, a member of the public, Geoffrey Oriaro, had his petition complete a successful conclusion when the National Assembly adopted a report of its Departmental Committee on Justice and Legal Affairs to remove the Chair and Vice-Chair of the constitutional Ethics and Anti Corruption Commission, EACC.
(2) Parliament shall make provision for the procedure for the exercise of this right.
This provision is facilitated by the Petitions to Parliament (Procedure) Act 2012 enacted in August 2012.
Click on the following link for more on the available Parliamentary Motions as listed on current (eleventh) Parliament's official website.
Sessional Papers
Sessional Papers are oftentimes what the Government uses to develop policy frameworks for implementation. Numerous Sessional Papers spanning the over 90 years of parliamentary legislation in Kenya have been drafted, tabled, and adopted. Click on the following link for more on the available Sessional Papers at the official website of the current (eleventh) Parliament.
