Kenyan MPs Attend Parliament By Fingerprint

Kenya’s parliament has launched a biometric fingerprint system to register MPs’ attendance.

Parliamentary speaker Justin Muturi denied that it was introduced to “curb fraud” and said it was to speed up registration and for security.

There have been allegations that MPs have been using an official to sign in on their behalf in order to get a $58 (£35) attendance fee.

Kenyan MPs are among the highest paid in the world.

The BBC’s Odeo Sirari in the capital, Nairobi, says MPs have spent the morning registering their fingerprints ahead of the afternoon opening of parliament after its Christmas break.

The MPs have a week to register and will then have to use the biometric machine as they queue to enter the chamber, he says.

“This is meant to solve the challenges faced by the manual registration,” Kenya’s Business Daily newspaper quoted National Assembly Clerk Justin Bundi as telling MPs in an internal memo.

Parliament sits on Tuesday and Thursday afternoons and all day on Wednesdays.