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"type": "speech",
"speaker_name": "Sen. Cheruiyot",
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"content": " Madam Temporary Speaker, I beg to move that the Statutory Instruments Amendment Bill 2024 be now read a Second Time. Madam Temporary Speaker, you know Senator Boni Khalwale requested that I clarify what I mean when I said that this is part of the products of the so-called NADCO process. NADCO is National Dialogue Committee; a Motion that this House adopted and set up a committee of Sen. Khalwale and other Members from both sides the House. We sat at the Bomas of Kenya, somewhere in Gilgil and in different parts of the country and, eventually, it was signed. The Report was signed and we brought the Bills into this House. In total, we had nine Bills. To the best of my recollection, I think this is a fourth Bill that I moved in this House. There are others that are before the National Assembly which are being concluded and they will soon be sending them this side. I think there is one which we have completely done with; the IEBC (Amendment) Bill. That is why the IBC recruitment process is ongoing and the rest of the processes are here. Allow me to detour just for a second before I speak to the Bill. There are many times that as Parliament, we do things at moments of crisis but then like the proverbial animal, I do not know what its English word is, but I know that in Swahili that animal is called ngiri."
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{
"id": 1549153,
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"content": "(Sen. Faki consulted loudly)"
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{
"id": 1549154,
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"text_counter": 1080,
"type": "speech",
"speaker_name": "Sen. Cheruiyot",
"speaker_title": "The Senate Majority Leader",
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"legal_name": "Aaron Kipkirui Cheruiyot",
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"content": "Madam Temporary Speaker, the warthog actually. Thank you, Sen. Faki, for reminding me. Ngiri. Yes, we should not be very quick to forget. Many times, after that crisis is done, we revert back to our old ways. Madam Temporary Speaker, remember the mood the country was in just before the formation of the National Dialogue Committee (NADCO) and how we were able to progress. I am grateful because there are many laws today being processed through the"
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"text_counter": 1081,
"type": "speech",
"speaker_name": "Sen. Cheruiyot",
"speaker_title": "The Senate Majority Leader",
"speaker": {
"id": 13165,
"legal_name": "Aaron Kipkirui Cheruiyot",
"slug": "aaron-cheruiyot"
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"content": "The electronic version of the Senate Hansard Report is for information purposesonly. A certified version of this Report can be obtained from the Director, Hansard and AudioServices, Senate."
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{
"id": 1549156,
"url": "http://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/1549156/?format=api",
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"type": "speech",
"speaker_name": "Sen. Cheruiyot",
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"content": "legislative system, including the Independent Electoral Boundaries Commission (IEBC) (Amendment) law, with a view to rectifying many of the issues that were brought to us by Kenyans. There is even the Constitution (Amendment) Bill. This afternoon, we passed a Motion on the consideration of the two-thirds gender rule principle, which is one of the products. It is only that I am still struggling with how the Constitution (Amendment) Bill will fit into the architecture of a bicameral parliament given the fact that the National Assembly did their report, and the Senate Standing Committee on Justice, Legal Affairs and Human Rights also did their own report. We need to make a decision on this as a House. The point I am trying to make is that when we retreat as a House and try to move the country with us, we should never lose sight of the reason why we brought the country together at that time. I am reminded again, Sen. (Dr.) Khalwale, that after the invasion of Parliament in June last year, we passed a very detailed Motion before this House. I keep on reminding Chairpersons of Committees that that Motion was so detailed that it assigned various roles and responsibilities to our various committees. The Finance and Budget Committee, for example, where Sen. Boni Khalwale serves, were supposed to do something about debt. I know there is a Public Finance Management (PFM) (Amendment) Act on the debt anchor situation. I shared my thoughts with you last week. While I may not necessarily disagree with the thought of how to move it, the process through how you achieve it and guide the country to avoid a default is something that you need to guide us. There are so many other things that we requested of the various committees. The Standing Committee on National Cohesion, Equal Opportunity and Regional Integration was tasked with capturing representation in various institutions. There are institutions that are being mentioned. It is a shame that in this day and age, there are state departments that can conduct official meetings in certain local dialects. There are quite a number of names that keep on popping up here and there and we receive that information, that a certain Cabinet Secretary, Permanent Secretary, Director or Chief Executive Officer (CEO) has constituted certain state organs within the armpit of what is under their jurisdiction. That calls to question whether they understand the provisions of Article 10 of our Constitution on national values. That is work that we gave to our Committee on National Cohesion, Equal Opportunity and Regional Integration. We are still awaiting their report and so many other things. I hate to imagine that, for example, when we get to June in two months’ time, people will look back and replay the clips of all the things that all the 67 Senators spoke to that Motion. Do we just speak and walk away? We must in retrospect ask ourselves whether we lost a moment, and whether as a House, there is still the possibility of rectifying that moment. Though people may say many things about Parliament and politicians, there is a level of trust that citizens have with this House that you do not find in many other Houses"
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"type": "speech",
"speaker_name": "Sen. Cheruiyot",
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"id": 13165,
"legal_name": "Aaron Kipkirui Cheruiyot",
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"content": "The electronic version of the Senate Hansard Report is for information purposesonly. A certified version of this Report can be obtained from the Director, Hansard and AudioServices, Senate."
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{
"id": 1549158,
"url": "http://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/1549158/?format=api",
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"type": "speech",
"speaker_name": "Sen. Cheruiyot",
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"content": "of Parliament. It is unfortunate if we continue with the trend of speaking at the spur of the moment and moving away immediately after. I am glad that we are having a conversation about this Bill because the organ of it is how to give life to statutory instruments that have been produced by this House. The legislature is an equal arm in the theology of the existence of Government as prescribed by our Constitution. We have the Executive, the Legislature and the Judiciary. Many times, I see decisions by the legislature being challenged so casually. I have said times without number in this House that perhaps it has come to a time where we must have a conversation, including with the Judiciary and the Judicial Service Commission (JSC). We need to agree on the threshold within which a judge hearing on a petition before them can overturn the decision of an entire House. This includes in the consideration of whatever issues that have been brought about them. I do not imagine that it was the design of our constitutional architecture for a Bill to go through both Houses of Parliament, go through public participation, assented into law and then the following day, stakeholders who, for one reason or the other, may have certain misgivings about that Bill, move to a court of law, secure an injunction and that is the end of the story. I have seen that many times. There are many Bills that I can quote off the top of mind, including Bills that are matters of public interest. I will cite an example of the Sugar Bill, which we tried to pass here last Session, but the House adjourned. We came back for the 13th Parliament and quickly moved the Bill, and within one and a half years, that Bill had gone through all the systems of Parliament. As we speak, the most critical parts of that Act of Parliament cannot be implemented. Why? This is because an individual, a Kenyan, appeared before one judge, another Kenyan, and all the millions of farmers that depend on sugarcane farming cannot enjoy the proceeds of the work that has been done by the legislature. Madam Temporary Speaker, I do not think that that was the design of our Constitution. There must be a threshold, especially on matters of public interest and things that affect the livelihood of millions of other Kenyans. This is because that is the force of law that Parliament has. This Bill speaks to a very simple provision. Many times, we pass legislation in this House and do not affect the timelines within which certain regulations, for example, are supposed to have been gazette. That is why we are introducing New Clause 24A into the Statutory Instruments Act. This is to make sure that, one, a regulatory-making authority shall make statutory instruments within the period provided for under the enabling legislation. Many times, we pass Bills here, and maybe Members do not take time to read to the final part of the Bill. In the transition clauses, we normally provide the period upon which certain regulations are supposed to be formulated and approved. Most of those timelines are violated and ignored because there is no sanction. People imagine that Parliament said within 90 days of the passage of this Bill, the Cabinet Secretary is"
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"speaker_name": "Sen. Cheruiyot",
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"content": "The electronic version of the Senate Hansard Report is for information purposesonly. A certified version of this Report can be obtained from the Director, Hansard and AudioServices, Senate."
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"id": 1549160,
"url": "http://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/1549160/?format=api",
"text_counter": 1086,
"type": "speech",
"speaker_name": "Sen. Cheruiyot",
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"content": "supposed to gazette these regulations, but we leave it hanging. Therefore, people do not care. They say, what will happen, anyway? If, indeed, you took them before a court of law, there would be no sanctions against them, because the law is silent on that issue. The best the judge can do is to ask that person to be prudent. In fact, reading this Bill, much as it was a negotiated document, I am not satisfied with the sanctions that are now being imposed on public officers who do not follow the prescription of the time period within which you are supposed to gazette these regulations. There is a proposal for a Kshs500,000 fine. I think that is a slap on the wrist of somebody who is ignoring the gathering of the people of Kenya. The unfortunate bit is that people look at Parliament as a gathering of 410 individuals. What they do not appreciate is that extracting from the provisions of our Constitution, Parliament is a gathering of all the 50 million of Kenyans through their elected representatives. It is not possible for the entire country to agree on any simple question as a wholesome. Since we are a constitutional democracy, we have passed it in our laws and set the threshold within which once a particular threshold is passed, then it is considered to be the common position of every Kenyan that lives under the jurisdiction of the maps of our country. In the Senate, for example, it is assumed that once 24 delegations have agreed on a particular Bill, that Bill or instrument before us is considered to have been passed by everybody, including those who for one reason or the other may not have voted in support of that particular Bill. That is how democracy works. Our counterpart House passes their legislation through a simple majority, that once gathered as a House of Parliament, when a Motion or Bill is before them, once more than half of the people gathered in that particular House have passed whatever legislation, it is considered to be the binding law in the country. It is my wish and hope that we can enforce and give strength to the Houses of Parliament. We are caricatured in the newspapers and people speak all manner of things against politicians as if we are aliens and not picked from the ordinary stock and pile of the average Kenyan. The people you find in this House, whether you like them or not, are the cumulative of the ordinary Kenyans. Anything they see and they do not like from Members of Parliament (MPs) in this House, that is exactly what you will find in any gathering, as long as you put Kenyans together."
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"speaker_name": "Sen. Cheruiyot",
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"content": "Therefore, the institution of Parliament needs to be respected. There are decisions that must take a certain level of caution before they are varied by any person including officers in the Executive. That is why we sanction those who do not pass regulations and even those whose sit on benches in the courts of law."
}
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