Nairobi Kenya, Members of Parliament (MPs) found themselves at a crossroads after discovering that their offices located at the Kenyatta International Convention Centre (KICC) had been locked.
This was due to the accumulation of rent arrears that Parliament has not paid to the KICC management.
KICC is said to have taken this drastic step, claiming that the Public Service Commission (PSC) has failed to pay rent for the offices used by MPs at the facility.
Some MPs who arrived at the KICC main gate were not allowed entry until the outstanding debt is paid by Parliament.
Among the affected MPs are Ndindi Nyoro of Kiharu Constituency, who is also Chair of the Budget Committee, Sam Atandi of Alego Usonga, Babu Owino of Embakasi East, and John Methu, senator for Nyandarua, among others.
Parliament staff with offices in the KICC building were also turned away and sent home, with their designated parking spots left unused.
Parliament has been urging KICC to grant them more time to make payments, without disrupting the MPs’ ability to carry out their duties.
However, the request appears to have fallen on deaf ears, as KICC has insisted that all MPs’ offices will remain locked until the debt is fully paid.
Through the PSC, Parliament has told KICC that it has been tightening its budget and has already paid approximately Ksh.134 million.
It argued that the remaining Ksh.50 million debt should not warrant KICC locking MPs out of their offices.