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{
    "id": 577922,
    "url": "http://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/577922/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 38,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "Hon. Mulu",
    "speaker_title": "",
    "speaker": {
        "id": 1955,
        "legal_name": "Benson Makali Mulu",
        "slug": "benson-makali-mulu"
    },
    "content": "Yes. I did not, Hon. Temporary Deputy Speaker. Thank you very much for giving me the chance to also contribute to this important Bill. I want to start by thanking Hon. Kaluma for bringing it to the House. The Constitution of Kenya (CoK) is very clear in terms of what the Government is comprised of. What is clear is that we have three arms of Government: The Judiciary, the Executive and Parliament, which is the Legislature. When you look at the spirit and the word of the Constitution of Kenya, it is clear that these three arms of Government should be independent in terms of how they do their work. Where the Legislature is expected to enact laws, the Executive is supposed to implement them and the Judiciary is supposed to interpret the laws. What this Bill is trying to do is to make sure that there is no unnecessary interference, as any of the three arms of Government engages in this important exercise of discharging their constitutional mandate. Many are times when in this House I have heard hon. Members asking questions to do with: Could this matter be in court? In situations where we have confirmed that matters are in court, Parliament has taken time to say: Let us not debate this matter till the courts conclude them. To me, this Bill is trying to do the same. It is trying to tell the Judiciary that so long as any matter is being discussed by Parliament, they should allow due process to be concluded then they can take over the matter and do whatever they want to do with it. What we are trying to stop is a situation where a matter is being debated in this Chamber and then the courts stop debate on it. Hon. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Members in this House are representatives of the people. Most of the things we say in this House are not actually our issues. They are issues that relate to the people we represent. I will be really disturbed and scared to always look behind to see who is looking at me, as I contribute in this Chamber. I want to have that freedom which is provided for in Article 117 of the Constitution. Article 117(1) says: “There shall be freedom of speech and debate in Parliament”. So, we are only enforcing that Article; as Members of Parliament, this amendment is going to help us do our work without any interference, so that when it comes to debating, you debate freely. You say what you want to say so long as you are within Parliament. The other thing which is important in this amendment is the issue of county assemblies. With the new 2010 Constitution, we have come up with devolved governments, which have Executives and county assemblies. We also want our colleagues who are elected at the county assemblies to also have the same privileges as we have, so that when they are debating within their respective chambers, they are not constrained by the fact that somebody will take them to court, or somebody will run to this judge and get these things stopped. To me, this Bill is very important. The courts should not think that we are interfering with their independence. We are only trying to make sure that we do our work without any interference. We have seen situations where even the work of Parliament is being challenged; an example is the issue of governors. There are times the Senators want to summon governors to come and follow up on their oversight responsibility, but you find they are told they cannot summon governors. Let us be allowed that freedom to do our work. So long as that happens, I do not think anybody has any reason to interfere with the way the courts are conducting their business. That is why anytime we The electronic version of the Official Hansard Report is for information purposesonly. A certified version of this Report can be obtained from the Hansard Editor."
}