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{
    "id": 1014368,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/1014368/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 259,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "Kilifi North, ODM",
    "speaker_title": "Hon. Owen Baya",
    "speaker": {
        "id": 13373,
        "legal_name": "Owen Yaa Baya",
        "slug": "owen-yaa-baya"
    },
    "content": "Committee is here, it is possible to ensure Parliament enforces its decisions. When Parliament passes resolutions within 60 days, the Committee should check whether those decisions have been implemented or not. I think the story currently is that, 60, 90 or 100 days go by until a Session of Parliament ends yet, many things that are passed in this House are not implemented. Every time a Motion is brought in this Parliament, there will be one or two Members saying it was discussed, passed and nothing happened. This is a statement that indicts Parliament’s work; that we are unable to enforce or ensure that what is passed by this House is implemented by the Executive. A lot of work that has been done here has not been implemented. If you look at this comprehensive Report that has been given by my Chairman, it tells you that many things that are discussed in Parliament in terms of Motions and Petitions are not implemented. One of the things that I would like to suggest going forward is that, Parliament needs to have an Act for the Committee on Implementation. This will give it powers to ensure it can enforce what this House passes. Otherwise, without an Act of Parliament and proper structuring of the Standing Orders, people will ignore what Parliament does. We had an opportunity with the Chair to visit Zambia where they have a Committee of Government Assurances. Every assurance that the Government gives in the House is immediately followed. It can lead to impeachment motions and dismissal of ministers. That is why they take the Government assurance very seriously. The Committee of Government Assurances can draft an impeachment motion based on their findings and send a minister packing. But what we have here is a whole Act of Parliament, as Hon. Millie has said. The Act has been passed, but it has not been implemented. We have been told of one by Hon. Chris Wamalwa on fertilizers, which was passed and never implemented. I did two motions in this House on cashewnuts and another on coconuts. They were passed and every time I asked the Cabinet Secretary why they were not implemented, he said they were not a priority. But Parliament passed the two Motions. That happens a lot. I thank God we have the Leader of the Majority Party here with us and he listens. I want to urge him as we pass Motions, Acts of Parliament, petitions and reports, to create a tracking system. That if something goes beyond 60 days and is not implemented, he kindly asks the Clerk’s Office to inform the Committee of Implementation. A lot of the work that we have is by Members who have complained that something was passed and never implemented. But we do not have proper mechanisms where what is passed in Parliament after 60 days automatically falls on the laps of the Committee on Implementation so that, immediately the Committee takes it up, it tries to implement or push for implementation. The Committee on Implementation where I sit has had issues where we call Cabinet Secretaries to come and explain certain things, but they feel they are not responsible to Parliament on implementation matters. They think they are only responsible to the President and do not come. The only three Committees manned by the minority are Public Accounts Committee (PAC), Public Investments Committee (PIC) and Committee on Implementation. That is how powerful this Committee is. It is an oversight Committee on behalf of Parliament. This is a very important thing, but Cabinet Secretaries do not see that this Committee needs to do its work. So, Leader of the Majority Party, I want to urge you to liaise with us closely. Lastly, this is a Committee of the Minority. The Minority leadership should have been here. But today, I take over the role of the Leader of the Minority Party in this House."
}