Kenyan parliamentarians have a touch of Seychelles legislative system |13 September 2014

A seven-member delegation from the Assembly of the Makueni County in Kenya was on an exchange visit to the Seychelles this week.

Led by Honorable Jackson Wambua, the regional MPs had chosen the Seychelles National Assembly as a benchmark for exposure on the procedures, administration and operations of an established Commonwealth legislature and to see what specificities can be borrowed from our system.

Although the East African state gained its Independence from Great Britain in 1963, only a national Parliament with two chambers – an Assembly and Senate – had existed since. The 47 autonomous County Assemblies representing each of the country’s counties headed by a governor and which functions as a branch of the local government, was only established following general elections based on a new Constitution which were held in March 2013. The new Constitution has paved the way for a Seychelles-like presidential democracy after several years of political turmoil and instability.

Through the exchange visit, the delegation had hoped to gain hands-on experience on the best parliamentary practices in order to help them ensure good governance back home, with the effective use of human and material resources.

In an interview yesterday morning, Honorable Wambua and his delegation who attended last Tuesday’s session of the National Assembly, told the press that they had also wanted to see to what extent Seychelles has been able to overcome the challenges as a new democracy. They seemed satisfied with what they have seen here as they have described the Assembly as timely, well organised and committed.

“We have been impressed by the organisation of the Assembly sessions as you start on time and do not waste time. You have well organised committees which are conducted in a disciplined manner. We have for example been impressed by the way your Quality Assurance Committee closely follows actions undertaken by the government and how they question the ministers when things seem not to be going according to plan. As for the staff, they wear uniforms and are thus clearly identified for assistance. They work without or with little supervision as they are fully committed to their jobs,” Honorable Wambua said.

The Kenyan parliamentary delegation has added that outside the National Assembly, they were Impressed by the protection of the environment and the cleanliness of the country; something they want to take back home when they leave Seychelles tomorrow.