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Why this senator wants coat hangers in Parliament lavatories

By SAMWEL OWINO December 8th, 2017 1 min read

Nyeri senator Ephraim Maina caused laughter in the senate when he demanded that toilets inside Parliament buildings have places where people can hang their coat while relieving themselves.

“You know madam speaker one needs to be comfortable when relieving himself and therefore our toilets here needs to have coat hangers,” said Mr Maina.

All good lavatories across the world usually have somewhere to hang a coat.

The senator had removed his coat while visiting the gents.

It is against Parliament Standing Orders for male MPs to remove their coats while inside the chambers.

Minority leader in the Senate Moses Wetangula who was on his feet making his contribution noticed the senator was not wearing  a coat and alerted the temporary speaker Margaret Kamar.

“Madam Speaker in my close to 25 years of being in Parliament I have never seen something like what the senator for Nyeri has done,” Mr Wetangula said.

The speaker read for the Nyeri senator the Standing Orders on dressing and urged him to apologise.

“Senator for Nyeri, you owe this House an apology for dressing improperly,” said Kamar.

Instead of apologizing, senator Maina made his case to the Speaker urging Parliament to make arrangements so that the toilets can have places for hanging coats.

He was, however, put under pressure by his colleagues until he apologized.

“Being a law abiding citizen I hereby apologise madam speaker,” he said