Karen Nyamu: Noisy on Faceboook, silent at the Senate
She may be ever vocal on social media, but then, United Democratic Alliance (UDA) party nominated Senator Karen Nyamu has been listed as one of the least active young senators.
In the first scorecard for the 13th Parliament released by the Mzalendo Trust Executive, a year after Kenyans went to the polls, Nyamu, Hezena Lamaletian and Chimera Mwinzago, were named as the three senators spoke less than 61 times in the past year.
Two of the senators, Mwinzago and Nyamu who are from UDA party spoke 23 and 17 times respectively.
Hezena who is nominated from the Orange Democratic Movement (ODM) party only spoke 21 times.
According to the Mzalendo Trust, the results show a continuing trend of a third of MPs contributing little substance to debates in parliament.
Senator Nyamu has been making headlines for the past year in relation to Mugithi artiste Samuel Muchoki Ndirangu popular known as Samidoh over there never ending love relationship.
The lawmaker was recorded in a viral video after she caused drama at Samidoh’s concert in Dubai leading to a clash with his wife Edday Nderitu.
According to Mzalendo, on average, a member of the Senate spoke 41 times and only one senator spoke less than 10 times, while the majority spoke 50 times or more in plenary.
Prior to that, she also attracted unnecessary attention after she was called out for inappropriate dresscode at the Senate.
Senator Nyamu is said to have walked into the chambers wearing a sleeveless dress, which is not allowed under the parliamentary rules.
Before Senator Nyamu was kicked out, both sides of the house started shouting at each other. The Speaker ended the debate by giving a ruling on Nyamu’s dressing.
“Senators are required not to enter the chamber lounge or dining room without being properly dressed; male MPs must wear collared long-sleeved shirts; a tie, a pair of socks and shoes. Women, on the other hand, should wear clothes that are decent, formal, and are of business-wear nature,” the Speaker said then.
Nyamu is yet to respond to the findings, but her counterpart, Hezena who is said to only have spoken 21 times, took to her Facebook page and said that actions are better than words.
“Ignore that ranking. It is based on who are the loudest noisemakers in the house and all of us cannot be parrots. I speak only when necessary,” she wrote.
The Parliamentary Watchdog has been publishing the scorecard since 2014, usually rating each MP’s participation in parliamentary sessions, noting the number of times MPs have made a speech in parliament or contributed to parliamentary debates.
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