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{
    "id": 1067271,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/1067271/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 101,
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    "content": "No.62. You will also recall that on 28th August 2015, during the 11th Parliament, while the House was considering the Constitution of Kenya (Amendment) (No. 2) Bill, 2013 sponsored by the then Member for Samburu West, Hon. Lati Lelelit, I gave guidance on the process and rationale for the procedure under Standing Order No.62. In a nutshell, the gist of my guidance was that the extended period provided in the Standing Order enables Members to reflect on a matter before the House and either reconsider or reconfirm their decision. This is premised on the fact that there are not many instances that require a fixed threshold for passage and the few that do are usually of a higher consequence in the operation of governance such as amendment of the Constitution. The second vote, therefore, affords the House an opportunity to actually express its desire. Indeed, during the above instance in 2015, the repeat vote saw a reconsideration of the decision and the Bill was passed by the House. We shall, therefore, proceed in a similar manner should the circumstances dictate. The matter of timelines is fairly straightforward and I had previously guided on this. But for the avoidance of doubt, debate on the Bill will continue as long as there are Members present and wishing to speak, subject to the rules of the House on relevance and closure of debate and being tediously repetitive. The only limitation that the House imposed is with regard to how much time each Member has and not of the overall debate. As I conclude, I must commend Members for both the queries raised with regard to the propriety of the Bill and its content and for the overwhelming interest that has been exhibited during debate on the Bill. We are at a constitutional moment which calls for a delicate balancing act on the part of Members on the discharge of their legislative and representative mandates. Though the Constitution has in effect made the submission of the current Bill to a referendum a must, whether the House passes the Bill or fails to pass it, this fait accompli affords the House a unique chance of interrogating proposals introduced in Parliament by ordinary citizens who have chosen to bypass Parliament. Hon. Members, I wish to thank the Joint Committee for the invaluable contribution that their Report has made to this guidance and the contribution it shall make to the debate on this Bill. In summary, my considered guidance is, therefore, as follows:"
}