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{
    "id": 578824,
    "url": "http://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/578824/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 259,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "Hon. Kabando wa Kabando",
    "speaker_title": "",
    "speaker": {
        "id": 31,
        "legal_name": "Kabando wa Kabando",
        "slug": "kabando-kabando"
    },
    "content": "Thank you very much, Hon. Temporary Deputy Speaker. When we were drafting the Constitution and thereafter the very elaborate process of negotiation in order to give Kenya a new dispensation, little was it anticipated that we will have some of the bottlenecks or complications in terms of the independence of the institutions and some of the basic governance matters that are afflicting communities in Kenya to the extent that people are asking questions. Sometimes, because of these small confusions, you hear isolated complaints like: “This Constitution that we made is too permissive and too liberal”, to the extent that individuals who want to create propaganda and scandalize a very good and progressive document will have their say in small audiences. These are some of the small things that we need to incrementally change in order to fortify the very strong gains that we made a few years ago after great sacrifices were made. One great loss, that was never anticipated, is that Parliament would lose its ground and space. Kenya still celebrates Parliaments that existed nearly 30 years ago - the 4th and 5th Parliaments - because they had six or seven individuals who were able to stand and say important things, expose scandals, initiate legislation and stand out against the Executive those days. Totalitarianism and one-party-ism were the benchmark of the continent. Having now passed those stages, it is now important to strongly entrench in the Constitution, the independence of institutions to the extent that those institutions execute their mandate without undue interference. It has come to the extent that small matters, even beyond Parliament, where MPs are acting in the public interest, are being circumvented by the Judiciary. I can give an example within my community when we initiated this war on illicit brew. Everywhere, MPs are now being sued by individuals who are being facilitated, financed and sponsored by merchants of the business of death. You find it very difficult for MPs and Members of the County Assembly (MCAs) to execute a very important directive and mandate that is resonating very powerfully within the villages and hamlets of this country. In this Parliament, we have seen proceedings being initiated to deal with matters before us and yet, the Constitution is very clear about the mandate of Parliament, both the Senate and the National Assembly. The Constitution is very clear about the mandate of the National Parliament, the Senate and the National Assembly. I want to congratulate Hon. Kaluma, for this brilliant and bold initiative in this progressive legislation. If we pass this amendment, we shall empower parliamentary committees, the Chambers of the National Parliament and the county assemblies - and I am very happy that they have been brought on board. It was anticipated that devolution will take a lower level but powerful enough to ring-fence public resources and check the Executive of the county governments. Today, members of the county assemblies are not only facing threats of suits from residents of their counties, but also suffocation by all-powerful county governors. Many counties in this county do not have county assemblies but local authorities of the past. They have councillors instead of honourable members of the county assemblies, who are a 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."
}