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"content": "We will move to the next Order and come back to this one later."
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"content": "(Motion deferred)"
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"content": "BILL"
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"content": "Second Reading"
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"content": "THE NATIONAL GOVERNMENT ADMINISTRATION LAWS (AMENDMENT) BILL (National Assembly Bill No.73 of 2023)"
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"type": "speech",
"speaker_name": "Kikuyu, UDA",
"speaker_title": "Hon. Kimani Ichung’wah",
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"content": " Hon. Deputy Speaker, I beg to move that the National Government Administration Laws (Amendment) Bill (National Assembly Bill No.73 of 2023) be now read a Second Time. The Departmental Committee on Justice and Legal Affairs considered this Bill over a long period. Many people have been all over pressuring many Members for consideration of this Bill for obvious reasons. Part of the objects of this Bill were some slightly contentious issues that have since been ironed out. I must take this opportunity to thank Hon. Murugara and the Members of the Departmental Committee on Justice and Legal Affairs for considering some amendments to some statutes like the National Security Council Act. These were a bit contentious. We were able to resolve them. Some are those that touch on the Office of the Attorney-General Act of 2012, especially on the custody of our National Seal. From the Committee’s Report, you can see that the Hon. Members of the Departmental Committee on Justice and Legal Affairs have resolved and agreed that the Seal should remain with the Office of the Attorney-General and not the Head of Public Service. The Bill also sought to amend two other statutes: The National Government Coordination Act of 2013 and the Assumption of Office of the President Act of 2012. A majority of the amendments in the Bill relate to the administration of government. It specifically seeks to alter the role of governmental bodies and officials including the Assumption of Office of the President Committee by adding new members that include the National Security Advisor, the National Security Council Committee, the Attorney-General, the Head of Public Service, and the Offices of the Chief Administrative Secretary. That is why I said that I know people have lobbied many Members to have this Bill considered. We have been telling them to hold their horses and be patient because the time will come. That time has come. The Assumption of the Office of the President Act has been amended. The Committee has agreed with what has been proposed, to increase the membership of that committee. On the National Security Council, there were reservations. I believe the Chair of the Departmental Committee on Justice and Legal Affairs will speak on this as he seconds this Motion. Those of the Office of the Attorney-General were also agreed to and so were those on the National Government Coordination Act of 2013, with amendments. However, on the National Government Coordination Act of 2013, there was a line of thinking that we should limit the Chief Administrative Secretaries to 22 in line with the line ministries. It is also worth noting that other schools of thought also inform the thinking—there are state departments within the ministries. These go beyond the number of ministries up to the level of 50 to 51. Therefore, even the positions of Chief Administrative Secretaries can be more than 22 in line with state departments established along line ministries. 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"
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"speaker_name": "Kikuyu, UDA",
"speaker_title": "Hon. Kimani Ichung’wah",
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"content": "On the Assumption of Office of the President, the Bill has the objective of strengthening the composition of the Assumption of Office of the President Committee by incorporating the secretary to the National Security Council and the Principal Secretary in the state department responsible for matters relating to defence as additional members of this committee. The Joint Committee did not agree. It proposes that they amend by deleting the proposed paragraph (c) appearing in the proposed amendment to Section 5(2). The rationale was removing the National Security Advisor as a member of the Assumption of Office of the President Committee because the Office of the National Security Advisor is not statutory. Therefore, the proposal is to insert new amendments immediately after the proposed amendment of Section 5(2). They would delete the words “Cabinet Secretary” appearing in paragraph (c) and substituting it thereof with the words “Principal Secretary”. This is because the rest of the members of that committee are Principal Secretaries and the Act provided for the Cabinet Secretary. That will be cleaned up to make sure those sitting in this committee are Principal Secretaries. The Committee agrees on many amendments on the Office of the Attorney-General. In many jurisdictions in the Commonwealth, the Office of the Attorney-General is the official custodian of the government seal. I thank the Departmental Committee on Justice and Legal Affairs because, in their wisdom, they have chosen to work like many other commonwealth democracies. The Bill proposes to amend the National Government Coordination Act to provide for the establishment and function of the Office of the Head of Public Service and the Chief Administrative Secretary. The Office of the Head of Public Service has been subjected to a lot of litigation in courts. Today, the current holder of that office is in court. The amendments in this Bill seek to create a legal framework that anchors the Office of the Head of Public Service and the Office of Chief Administrative Secretaries in law. You know that even the Office of the Chief Administrative Secretaries has been challenged in court. That matter is active in court. I will not dwell on it. In their wisdom, the Committee has designated the Chief Administrative Secretaries as public officers. It has also put an elaborate mechanism within which Chief Administrative Secretaries will be recruited and appointed into office."
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"id": 1392718,
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"speaker": null,
"content": "[The Deputy Speaker (Hon. Gladys Boss) left the Chair]"
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"speaker": null,
"content": "[The Temporary Speaker (Hon. (Dr) Rachael Nyamai) took the Chair]"
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"speaker_name": "Kikuyu, UDA",
"speaker_title": "Hon. Kimani Ichung’wah",
"speaker": null,
"content": "Hon. Temporary Speaker, I do not want to belabour the point. As I said, this is a small omnibus Bill that seeks to amend four statutes: The Assumption of Office of the President Act, the National Security Council Act, the Office of the Attorney General Act, and the National Government Coordination Act. Therefore, there is no need to belabour that point."
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