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{
    "id": 1022872,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/1022872/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 111,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "Hon. Speaker",
    "speaker_title": "",
    "speaker": null,
    "content": "Well said. I do not need to be addressed on this issue. This House does not run that way. You understand the provisions of Article 119 of the Constitution. You must always walk with the Constitution on your fingertips. I want to ask you to look at the provisions of Article 119 of the Constitution and you will understand what I am talking about. At an appropriate time, I will make a pronouncement. We must, from time to time, allow for entertainment of shadows and benefits of doubt. If you listened to Hon. Tayari, he explained an element which is not very clear – that if the Committee has a sitting with the NLC and issues discussed might not be that complex, the NLC might just state that they will deal with that matter and it ends there. There is always room for the benefit of the doubt on a balance of probability. The standards required for Petitions are not like those in a criminal case of beyond reasonable doubt but on a balance of probability. At an appropriate time, we will be addressing in detail the full range as to what is expected of us as a House under Article 119 of the Constitution. It is true that you can petition the House but it must have authority. You cannot petition the House to make a law and assent to it because it does not have authority to do so. You cannot petition the House and request that it finds somebody guilty and sentence him to 100 years because the House does not have authority to do so. We must look at some of these things. There is, indeed, a lot of work for all Members and the Committees. We should try to strike a balance between the desire of Members to act on behalf of their constituents and the right of citizens to petition the House. We must be honest at all times. We must not shy away from stating when we do not have authority to handle some things. For instance, it is important to tell people that on matters of early childhood education, the National Assembly does not have authority to handle. It is a matter of the other House of Parliament. We must appreciate those things. When you are petitioned by your own constituents on some nursery schools, potato farms, slaughter houses for donkeys, burial sites for cows in the villages or mortuaries for dogs, please do not bring those issues here because we do not deal with them. Those are not our functions. They are devolved functions."
}