KOHIMA — Parliamentary
Affairs Minister KG Kenye has urged government officials to prioritise assembly
matters, observing their non-attendance to the roles and responsibilities on
assembly matters.
Giving a statement under Rule 55 on the last day of the
latest NLA session, Kenye said that the Assembly is the highest democratic
institution of governance, and all of its matters must be treated with utmost
seriousness and priority.
"The government officials, especially those in
leadership roles, have a duty to respect the legislative process and ensure
that the concerns and recommendations of this House are addressed with
sincerity and diligence,” he said.
In many cases, the Administrative Heads of Department
(AHoDs) and Heads of Department (HoDs) are not attending to their
responsibilities with regard to Assembly matters, he said.
Further, the Oral Evidence Meetings are not being attended
in many instances, leading to repeated rescheduling of the meetings, causing
serious inconveniences, he said.
"Non-attendance in these meetings and the tendency to
depute junior officers to represent AHOD/HoD is highly inappropriate and must
be scrupulously avoided,” Kenye asserted.
He added that recommendations made by the committees must be
treated with due importance, and a mechanism should be in place for their
timely implementation.
All AHoDs/HoDs must ensure their presence at Oral Evidence
Meetings and Assembly sessions, he said, adding that attendance during Assembly
sessions needs to be improved.
He maintained that the legislature is the temple of
democracy. “It is an institute where policies are conceived, and these policies
are transformed into laws through enactment by the legislature to govern the state
and its citizens.
“The legislature and the government machinery work in tandem
for the interest of the people. The functions of these two organs to manage
governance effectively have two secretariats, namely the Assembly Secretariat
to ‘receive’ through the people's representatives and the Civil Secretariat to
‘deliver’ through the civil servants,” he said.
The senior politician explained that the committee's roles
are to coordinate the working systems of the two secretariats to ensure the
implementation of developmental programmes conceived out of the policies by the
Legislative Assembly, which are meant for the optimum development of the people
on all fronts and through all departments of the government machinery.
He said that the committees also play dual roles in that
they submit their reports on which the popular government rectifies or
streamlines their future plans and programmes.
The evidence, both written and oral, established by the
committees has far-reaching impacts and consequences, he pointed out.
According to Kenye, if the members cannot shoulder and
discharge their assigned responsibilities owing to their repeated absence, then
it will be advisable for them to relinquish their position as a member of the
committee with prior information to the Speaker so as to facilitate another
member for the smooth functioning of such committees.
