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{
    "id": 674814,
    "url": "http://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/674814/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 160,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "Hon. Oyugi",
    "speaker_title": "",
    "speaker": {
        "id": 444,
        "legal_name": "Augostinho Neto Oyugi",
        "slug": "augostinho-neto-oyugi"
    },
    "content": "“A person is disqualified from being elected a member of a county assembly if the person— a. is a State officer or other public officer, other than a member of the county assembly; b. has, at any time within the five years immediately before the date of the election, held office as a member of the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission; c. has not been a citizen of Kenya for at least the ten years preceding the date of election; d. is of unsound mind; e. is an un-discharged bankrupt; f. is serving a prison sentence of at least six months; or, g. has been found, in accordance with any law, to have misused or abused a State office or to have contravened Chapter Six.” However, the drafter wants us to subject that provision on disqualification for election to Article 194(1) of the Constitution that reads totally different. Clause 9 of the Bill reads that:- “Where a member is found to have contravened Article 193(2) of the Constitution, the decision shall not have effect for purposes of Article 194(1)(g) of the Constitution until all possibility of appeal or review of the relevant decision or sentence has been exhausted.” They want to subject that to review. How do you subject a constitutional provision to review using the provisions of an Act like this? I think what the person was trying to do was to graduate the manner in which, for example, MCAs become qualified for office. But you cannot do that within the meaning and provisions of legislation. I think that is cavalier and pretty dangerous. There is a beautiful principle which is what the person does in Clause 15 of the Bill on the breach of powers of county assemblies. I think that is fine in terms of making sure that the speaker has powers to enforce certain things that happen in the county assembly. There is another very dangerous provision in Clause 18 of this Bill. Article 125 of the Constitution gives the National Assembly and the Senate powers of the High Court. In the cut- and-paste legislation, this person thinks that you can lift the exact provision of Article 125 of the Constitution and paste it on the legislation. I think this is pretty dangerous. It is true the county assemblies need powers. It is true we have said they are fairly very important. But to think that Article 125 of the Constitution can just be placed in this Bill in the manner it is done is pretty absurd. You cannot proceed this way. Even though you want to impress people, I think there is a better way of impressing MCAs, who we have agreed are important people. Article 195 of the Constitution talks about the county assemblies being the level in which we exercise sovereignty. I think the MCAs ought not to just have simple powers, but they should have adequate powers to make sure they are able to ensure that the units of devolution are protected. Clause 25 of the Bill is again a very dangerous provision. It is good for Members of Parliament to try and exercise their legislative powers within the meaning of the Constitution, but you cannot just copy everything up to someone’s name. We have debated this matter before when we considered the Parliamentary Powers and Privileges Bill. Clause 25 speaks to denying the power to broadcast what goes on in the county assemblies. There is nothing we do here that is private. You know once or twice, the Speaker is able to request journalists to withdraw from the Chamber when we want to discuss something in camera. You cannot limit the right of access 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."
}