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"id": 1394581,
"url": "http://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/1394581/?format=api",
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"type": "speech",
"speaker_name": "Hon. Farah Maalim",
"speaker_title": "The Temporary Speaker",
"speaker": {
"id": 16,
"legal_name": "Farah Maalim Mohamed",
"slug": "farah-maalim"
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"content": " Hon. Raso."
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{
"id": 1394582,
"url": "http://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/1394582/?format=api",
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"type": "speech",
"speaker_name": "Saku, UDA",
"speaker_title": "Hon. Ali Raso",
"speaker": null,
"content": " Thank you very much, Hon. Speaker. I rise to support this Bill. We have had such offices in this country. During the previous administration, we had Chief Administrative Secretaries. It was confirmed, and many of us agreed; that it was not anchored in law. Some Chief Administrative Secretaries appeared before the Select and Departmental Committees of this House and left a lot to be desired. How can an individual who is not known in law appear before a Committee and transact business on behalf of a Ministry or a State Department? For that reason, anchoring these offices in law is important. Article 234 (2)(a) says ‘subject to this Constitution and legislation.’ It does not isolate the Constitution from a legislation. It clarifies that the Constitution itself is not holistic unless it is improved through continuous legislation. Article 94(5) is clear that Parliament will make laws or create offices and challenge anything that comes up in law that can stand the test of time. Article 234 further says that establishment and abolishment of offices in the public service, and appointment of persons to hold office or act in those offices as well as confirmation of appointments, is the responsibility of the Public Service Commission. Article 132(4)(a) provides that the President, as otherwise provided for in the Constitution, may establish an office in the public service in accordance with the recommendations of the Public Service Commission. Those of us who sat in the said Committee realised that the President, on his own, cannot run this great country. He would be able to run Kenya with the help of other people who will come on his wings and support his administration. The Constitution does not say that the President will appoint those officers by himself alone. He will do so by consulting with the Public Service Commission. For generations, we have heard of the Public Service Commission associated with a very important office in this country – an office which is at times referred to as ‘Chief of Staff.’ This Office has never been anchored in law yet four previous successive administrations have had it. For the first time, the Kenya Kwanza Administration realised that we cannot have offices that exists outside the Constitution and legislation. That office is now being anchored in the laws of the land so that persons appointed to hold it can legitimately and constitutionally transact business on behalf of the Republic of Kenya. With those remarks, I support."
},
{
"id": 1394583,
"url": "http://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/1394583/?format=api",
"text_counter": 301,
"type": "speech",
"speaker_name": "Hon. Farah Maalim",
"speaker_title": "The Temporary Speaker",
"speaker": {
"id": 16,
"legal_name": "Farah Maalim Mohamed",
"slug": "farah-maalim"
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"content": " Hon. Ndindi Nyoro."
},
{
"id": 1394584,
"url": "http://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/1394584/?format=api",
"text_counter": 302,
"type": "speech",
"speaker_name": "Kiharu, UDA",
"speaker_title": "Hon. Ndindi Nyoro",
"speaker": null,
"content": " Thank you very much, Hon. Temporary Speaker. I am on queue for the next Motion."
},
{
"id": 1394585,
"url": "http://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/1394585/?format=api",
"text_counter": 303,
"type": "speech",
"speaker_name": "Hon. Farah Maalim",
"speaker_title": "The Temporary Speaker",
"speaker": {
"id": 16,
"legal_name": "Farah Maalim Mohamed",
"slug": "farah-maalim"
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"content": " Hon. Oundo. 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"
},
{
"id": 1394586,
"url": "http://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/1394586/?format=api",
"text_counter": 304,
"type": "speech",
"speaker_name": "Funyula, ODM",
"speaker_title": "Hon. (Dr) Ojiambo Oundo",
"speaker": null,
"content": " Hon. Temporary Speaker, other than the first part concerning the Assumption of the Office of the President Act, I totally oppose this Bill. I oppose the National Government Administration Laws (Amendment) Bill 2023 on matters principles, Constitution and the spirit of the Constitution of Kenya. The essence of the Constitution of Kenya 2010 is to make the Executive lean, accountable and less intimidating. Many of us who have been around for some time will remember the overbearing nature of the former holders of the so-called ‘Office of Permanent Secretary in the Office of the President, Secretary to the Cabinet and Head of the Public Service.’ Many of us will remember Hon. Nyachae, Hon. Ezekiah Oyugi and the rest. Those who drafted the Constitution of Kenya 2010 saw it necessary to cure the excesses imposed by the various offices. Let us start by looking at the amendments proposed on each statute one by one. For example, in the Amendments to the National Security Council, Article 240 is explicitly clear about what constitutes the National Security Council. Hon. Temporary Speaker, as the presiding officer of this Assembly right now, and as the representative of the substantive Speaker, you will appreciate that this is a debate that should continue until we resolve this matter conclusively. There is no guarantee that the Committee’s Report, bearing the various proposed amendments, will be carried during the Committee of the whole House. Essentially, the substantive document we are dealing with, which could pass with or without amendments, is the published Bill. Trying to hoodwink Kenyans that we have removed the offensive unconstitutional provision in the Bill, and that we can now debate and pass the Bill, is what we used to call… I would not like to say it here as it will be termed unparliamentary."
},
{
"id": 1394587,
"url": "http://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/1394587/?format=api",
"text_counter": 305,
"type": "speech",
"speaker_name": "Funyula, ODM",
"speaker_title": "Hon. (Dr) Ojiambo Oundo",
"speaker": null,
"content": "On the provision dealing with the Office of the National Security Adviser, in modern democracies the world over, an advisor to a president ordinarily works at the pleasure of the president. Therefore, that cannot be legislated. We should let the adviser work as it has been. The most damaging amendment to this Bill is the creation of Office of the Head of the Public Service. If you look at the duties that he has been assigned in the Bill, you will see that one of them is to be the administrative head of the Executive Office of the President. That office is not provided for in the Constitution. The decisions of the President, as contemplated in Article 135 of the Constitution, are supposed to be in writing and shall bear the seal and signature of the President. That is so instructive and the people of Kenya should not lose sight of it. At no time was it contemplated that somebody else will write and sign any document with a decision of the President in the performance of any of his functions on behalf of the President. Article 135 is very clear on the signature on the decisions of the President. All along, it has been an anomaly whenever pronouncements that touch on the core mandate of the office of the President have been signed by other persons other than the President. If, indeed, the Head of the Public Service shall serve at the pleasure of the President as indicated in the Bill, then it cannot be a state office as defined in Article 260 of the Constitution. The Head of the Public Service will become an errand boy of the President. He will serve at the President’s pleasure. Any incoming administration ought to have a different style of executing its mandate and running its government. Saddling it with an office created by an Act of Parliament that is unconstitutional is essentially tying its hands. A new administration would want to do things in a completely different manner. How can a sponsor of a Bill of this magnitude indicate that the Head of the Public Service will be the custodian of the Public Seal and any other instruments of the state that are not in the custody of any other person? That is where the mischief lies. What mischief do they want to do? The Office of the President may auction this country if it has the Public Seal and the President’s signature. It will enter into any business without referring to any other party. 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"
},
{
"id": 1394588,
"url": "http://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/1394588/?format=api",
"text_counter": 306,
"type": "speech",
"speaker_name": "Funyula, ODM",
"speaker_title": "Hon. (Dr) Ojiambo Oundo",
"speaker": null,
"content": "The Bill before us seeks to create the non-existent Office of Chief Administrative Secretary. If you go through the duties assigned to the Chief Administrative Secretary, you will appreciate that they do not exist in the Constitution of Kenya 2010. The Constitution describes the Executive as consisting of the President, the Deputy President, the Attorney-General, and the cabinet secretaries. The accounting officer is the Principal Secretary. The question that all of us beg to ask is: Where does the Chief Administrative Secretary fall in the architecture of the Executive? He is not listed under Article 260 of the Constitution as a state officer. What is it? Any office created in the Public Service is for a specific function. Whenever we enact laws, we state that there will be ‘X’ officers and they will become officers in the public service. The Constitution of Kenya is clear on what constitutes the Public Service. One of the functions assigned to this office is liaising with Parliament. The Chief Administrative Secretary will liaise with Parliament as who? The duty to report to Parliament is vested in the constitutional offices. The President, cabinet secretaries, principal secretaries and holders of constitutional offices are the ones who are supposed to do that. So, how does ‘liaising with Parliament’ come in when this is not a constitutional office? Another function being assigned to the new proposed office is liaising with the county governments on matters of concurrent mandate. There are organs created in the Constitution and in the County Government Act to deal with those functions. What are we doing here? Another function is representing the Cabinet Secretary at any meeting directed by the Cabinet Secretary. As Dr Nyikal indicated previously, we are creating an office of an assistant minister yet in the Constitution there is no office that has been assigned to act as an assistant office to the Office of Cabinet Secretary. That is not provided for in the Constitution. Why are we trying to amend the Constitution through this legislation, which is obviously a wrong process? Article 259 of the Constitution calls for the Constitution to be interpreted in a manner that advances good governance. This Bill falls flat on account of that provision of the Constitution. I urge the Speaker to apply himself on this fact and ask the promoter of this Bill to drop it and draft it afresh to meet the constitutional requirements, and then bring it back for debate. Living it the way it is, considering the way we operate in a guillotine manner, all the amendments will be defeated and the Bill will pass as it is, and it will be an unconstitutional law. Its cure cannot be found. Thank you, Hon. Temporary Speaker."
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"text_counter": 307,
"type": "scene",
"speaker_name": "",
"speaker_title": "",
"speaker": null,
"content": "(An Hon. Member spoke off the record.)"
},
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"id": 1394590,
"url": "http://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/1394590/?format=api",
"text_counter": 308,
"type": "speech",
"speaker_name": "Hon. Farah Maalim",
"speaker_title": "The Temporary Speaker",
"speaker": {
"id": 16,
"legal_name": "Farah Maalim Mohamed",
"slug": "farah-maalim"
},
"content": " What is your point of order, Member for Busia County? You cannot have a point of order when a Member has finished to debate. Please, contribute to the debate."
}
]
}