President William Ruto recently launched a scathing attack against Parliament, accusing legislators of soliciting bribes from State officers who appear before committees.

“Our legislature must be called out. There is money being demanded from the Executive, governors and ministers, especially those who appear for accountability before our Houses of Parliament,” he declared during the 2025 Devolution Conference in Homa Bay.

The President’s remarks struck a nerve because they touched on a truth long whispered about: corruption within the corridors of Parliament.

Yet critics note that Ruto himself, and administrations before him, have at times undermined the independence of Parliament, preferring a pliant August House to one that robustly scrutinises the Executive.

A glaring example came in 2023, ahead of the vote on the Finance Bill that introduced the controversial housing levy. Facing resistance, Ruto issued what many saw as a veiled threat to MPs.

“I’m waiting for MPs who will go and vote against the government plan to give these young people—majority of them their voters—employment, housing that will give these people a chance to own a decent home with five percent mortgage,” the President said.

The message was clear: dissent would be punished. Such executive pressure blunts Parliament’s role as the people’s representative in the budget-making process, analysts say.

After years of being under the shadow of the late President Daniel Moi’s autocratic grip, the Constitution of Kenya 2010 gave back Kenya’s Parliament its sacrosanct role of revenue allocation, budgeting, as well as oversight of the same expenditure, says Javas Bigambo, a lawyer and governance specialist.

“In Kenya, Parliament has done well on revenue allocation, especially to the devolved units,” explains Bigambo.

But analyst says you would struggle to find other success stories from the August House in the last 15 years.

The Constitution could not be clearer about Parliament’s fiscal authority. Article 95 gives the National Assembly power to determine the allocation of national revenue and oversight over its expenditure.

Article 221 requires the House to consider, debate, and approve estimates of revenue and expenditure submitted by the Executive. No money can be withdrawn from the Consolidated Fund without parliamentary authorisation through appropriation laws.

Parliament also scrutinises taxation and revenue-raising measures through Finance Bills and related legislation. The Constitution further demands that this process be subjected to public participation, with MPs acting as custodians of transparency and accountability.

In short, Parliament was designed not as a rubber stamp, but as a constitutional guardian of fiscal discipline.

Fifteen years after the promulgation of what was hailed as a progressive constitution, many Kenyans believe Parliament has betrayed this sacred trust.

“The Katiba is sacred — won through the blood, sweat, and sacrifice of generations who dreamed of a just Kenya. Yet in the 15 years since its birth, Parliament has allowed debt to spiral, taxes to suffocate families, and public resources to be mismanaged,” said Wanja Maina, Founder of Hummingbird Grassroots Centre.

“This betrayal of the people’s trust is what drove the Gen Z-led uprising of 2024, when young Kenyans risked their lives to defend the ideals their leaders had abandoned. The Constitution gave MPs the power to protect wananchi; what is missing is the courage to honour it.”

The numbers tell the story. In 2010, Kenya’s public debt stood at under Sh2 trillion. Today, it has surpassed Sh11 trillion. Taxes, too, have multiplied. The government has introduced levy upon levy: the 16 percent VAT on fuel in 2018, the affordable housing levy in 2023, the sugar levy in 2024, and most recently, the proposed standards levy on manufactured goods.

Instead of demanding efficiency in spending, MPs have repeatedly approved supplementary budgets and controversial taxes, passing the burden to wananchi. Families now contend with rising costs of living, while the government grows more addicted to borrowing.

To strengthen Parliament’s oversight, the 2010 Constitution also created independent offices like the auditor-general and the controller of budget. Their mandate is to help MPs hold the Executive accountable. But reports from these offices have too often been ignored.

Mr Bigambo regrets that despite the brazen corruption and wastage Kenyans have been treated to by officials both at the national and county levels—and captured in several audit reports—there has not been a single prosecution.

“That reveals a major gap in accountability of public resources,” said Bigambo.

Instead, the auditor general’s office has come under siege, including from those who should protect it.

In 2015, then Auditor-General Edward Ouko revealed that nearly a quarter of the Sh1.6 trillion budget for 2013/14 could not be adequately accounted for. Instead of demanding accountability, MPs allied to the Executive threatened to eject him from office. The watchdog was punished for barking too loudly.

For Nduko o’Matigere, leader of the Ukweli Party and member of the Kenya Left Alliance Steering Committee, this reflects a deeper malaise.

“The colossal legislative and oversight powers entrusted to Parliament by our Constitution have sadly, but unsurprisingly, wound up hollow because parliamentarians have, for the past 15 years, chosen obedience to Executive patronage over honest representation and safeguarding of the public interest,” he said.

This collapse of oversight, he argues, has left Kenyans exposed to creeping executive authoritarianism, illegitimate state violence, systemic impunity, reckless debt, and plunder of the Treasury.

It is this perception of betrayal that fuelled the fury of the 2024 anti-Finance Bill protests. Protesters stormed the National Assembly, parts of it were set ablaze, and MPs fled in panic—some allegedly in ambulances. The sanctity of the House, long shielded from public wrath, was shattered.

For many young Kenyans, the MPs who were meant to protect them had turned into tormentors. The buffet once prepared for Waheshimiwa became a feast for demonstrators.

As Matigere explains: “Parliamentarians have torn into pieces the social contract and made a bonfire to entertain State House as Kenyans’ quality of life diminishes. The failure of Parliamentarians is a clarion call to “We,  the People” to reclaim our delegated power by recalling the entire 13th Parliament and establishing a new mandate.”

Parliament today stands at a crossroads on the budget-making process. On paper, it wields sweeping powers over public finance. In practice, it is often captured by the Executive or consumed by its own venality. MPs are often split between their voters and their parties.

The bribery allegations by President Ruto reflect one rot, the other is the rubber-stamping of debt and taxes. Together, they reveal a House in crisis — mistrusted by the public, distrusted by the Executive, and struggling to live up to the Constitution’s lofty demands.

Analysts reckon that if Parliament is to reclaim its credibility, it must break free from executive patronage and rediscover its constitutional role.

That means demanding value for money in every budget line, rejecting taxes that punish households without delivering services, and acting on audit reports rather than shelving them.

“Parliament needs to enhance the mechanism of accounting of public finance to ensure prudent use of resources,” said Bigambo.