Parliament seeks AI-powered portal to process public submissions on Bills

NAIROBI, Kenya Nov 11 – Parliament is planning to establish information centres within existing government Digital Hubs to improve public access to parliamentary proceedings and legislative records.

The initiative seeks to decentralise access to live parliamentary debates, Bills, Hansard records and committee reports while strengthening civic education and public participation in the legislative process.

Appearing before the National Assembly Committee on Broadcasting and Library, ICT and Digital Economy Principal Secretary John Tanui said the government intends to utilise existing digital infrastructure to roll out the centres without incurring additional construction costs.

Tanui said the initiative would promote constitutional public participation in line with Article 118 of the Constitution, the Parliamentary Service Act 2019 and the Parliamentary Service Commission Strategic Plan.

He identified four categories of Digital Hubs that could accommodate the facilities: Centres of Excellence, Standard Digital Hubs, Basic Digital Hubs and Customized Hubs.

However, he recommended Centres of Excellence as the most suitable, citing their capacity to accommodate broadcasting terminals, smart interactive boards and video conferencing equipment.

The PS disclosed that most Centres of Excellence were more than 75 per cent complete, with full equipping expected by January. He added that contractors working on fewer than five stalled sites were being replaced over poor performance.

On equipment availability, Tanui said 8,000 devices were in stock, another 10,000 were in transit, while 20,000 were at the final procurement stage.

Under the proposed distribution framework, Centres of Excellence will receive 100 devices each, Standard Digital Hubs between 20 and 30, while Customized Hubs will receive 15 devices.

The initiative is expected to bring parliamentary information closer to citizens and enable them to participate more effectively in legislative processes.