Legislative Committees and Legislative Oversight in Selected African States: a Comparative Case Study of Kenya and South Africa, 2013 -2022

Abstract

A substantial literature exists on legislative committees with several scholars focusing on the influence of political party caucuses on legislative committees; how legislative committees are organized; why they take the form they do; and the degree to which they are in charge of legislative plan. However, not much scholarly work has been devoted to examining legislative committees in Africa in relation to the degree of their capacities. This study examines how capacity of legislative committees influences legislative oversight in selected African states, using a comparative case study of Kenya and South Africa. Specifically, the study examines how legislative committee structures in Kenya and South Africa compare with regard to influence on legislative oversight; how legislative committee powers in Kenya and South Africa compare with regard to influence on legislative oversight; and how legislative committee procedures in Kenya and South Africa compare with regard to influence on legislative oversight. To achieve these objectives, the study is anchored on realism philosophical position combining both aspects of qualitative and quantitative research approaches. Although the study does not take a solely theoretical stance, it utilizes an eclectic analytical framework which draws theoretical supports from congressional theoretical approaches, including distributive, information, and partisan. The study found that although the Kenyan National Assembly had a low degree of committee capacity, evidence suggested strong legislative oversight compared to a high degree of committee capacity and strong legislative oversight for the South African National Assembly. The variation was profound in the case of the committee structure where the Kenyan National Assembly reported a low degree of committee capacity and strong legislative oversight compared to a high degree of committee capacity and a strong legislative oversight for the South African committee structure. The variation in committee structure is attributed to the existing variations in committee type and tenure in the two countries. On committee power and committee procedure, the study establishes similarities in terms of the degree of committee capacity as high and a strong legislative oversight in both countries. The variation in the degree of committee capacity in both countries is mediated by contextual factors such as the differences in systems of government, political party systems, and electoral systems. This study concludes that although Kenya and South Africa have marginal variations on their legislative committee capacity, the findings demonstrate positive relationships between committee capacity and legislative oversight in both countries.