HTTP 200 OK
Allow: GET, PUT, PATCH, DELETE, HEAD, OPTIONS
Content-Type: application/json
Vary: Accept
{
"id": 1064886,
"url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/1064886/?format=api",
"text_counter": 246,
"type": "speech",
"speaker_name": "Kipipiri, JP",
"speaker_title": "Hon. Amos Kimunya",
"speaker": {
"id": 174,
"legal_name": "Amos Muhinga Kimunya",
"slug": "amos-kimunya"
},
"content": "government of the day are not willing to change the Constitution for the benefit of the people, you now have a route in Article 257 through which you can actually change the Constitution. In addition, this Bill is the first to come to this House through that initiative. Thanks to the efforts of the Constitution 2010. The people of Kenya can now come to this House and ultimately to the other Kenyans to persuade them to change the Constitution whether we as a House support it or not, and whether the Government supports it or not. If the people want a certain change, the Constitution says they will get it. Hon. Speaker, I did mention that the 2017 General Election, much as Kenyans had hoped that the 2010 Constitution was going to solidify the unity we had and lead us to peace and stability ever after, brought out some simmering issues that unless addressed, we will never reach the nirvana that we hoped our 2010 Constitution would deliver to us. This is because tensions were still there. It is taking this in mind that His Excellency the President, Uhuru Kenyatta, who has committed himself and his Jubilee Party to healing and unifying Kenya, began reaching out to leaders across the political divide, including the opposition, in a lengthy and tedious exercise which culminated in the famous 'Handshake'. Moreover, we must remember that apart from being a Jubilee Party political pledge to unite Kenyans, it is also one of his obligations under Article 131 (2) of the Constitution. The President is required to promote and enhance the unity of Kenya. Therefore, the 'Handshake' is in pursuit of a constitutional obligation by the President to unite, promote, and enhance the unity of Kenyans. Hon. Speaker, this Bill is proposing to replace this pure presidential system that we adopted. We copied a bit from America, perhaps, without realising we are talking of the federal system in America. Indeed, it is a federal system where resources are resident in the states and only about 30 per cent of the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) is controlled within the federal government system. However, 70 per cent of the resources and service delivery is within the states. We have the opposite where 85 per cent of the resources are in the national government and 15 per cent in the county government and we actually thought we could replicate an American system here. Therefore, what it is proposing is that let us go back to what we have always known - the Commonwealth system of government - albeit with some modification because we do not have a monarchy. We have a President - something we started with in 1964 when Kenya became a republic. Hon. Speaker, it has always amused me that we are using an American system of government when our own Speaker is the President of the Africa Commonwealth Parliamentary Association. We do agree that we are a commonwealth parliamentary system but Non- Govermental Organisations and other people who agitated for change had convinced us that we need to go through a non-commonwealth system. The proponents or promoters are then saying that we should go back to having government intertwined within the Legislature like we have always had. This is so that we have a hybrid where much as we have a total separation between the Executive and Legislature, it makes our positions here very difficult when 206 Members of the total 349 Members belong to the Jubilee Coalition under the President. Remember that the President is also the head of Executive. Now, when do they, as a party, ever say, 'We are in parliament and we are going to do our oversight role. We are going to reject what the President says.' How do they do that without being seen to be disobeying? Therefore, we have some unique situations here that the pure presidential system cannot address. Hon. Speaker, we also know we have problems when Members ask Questions here. The accountability has been so limited because the Cabinet Secretaries will appear in, say, Committee Room No. 4, or somewhere in Protection House, or Continental House to answer a Question raised 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."
}