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{
    "id": 1074462,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/1074462/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 123,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "Sen. Sakaja",
    "speaker_title": "",
    "speaker": {
        "id": 13131,
        "legal_name": "Johnson Arthur Sakaja",
        "slug": "johnson-arthur-sakaja"
    },
    "content": "Mr. Speaker, Sir, someone messed it. As the host Senator, I am really disappointed that someone has messed my card. It just says the card number, yet everyone else’s gives their names. I hope that the clerks will sort that out. I support this Motion that alters the Calendar of the Senate. You will remember that when we discussed this in the Senate Business Committee (SBC), I was pushing for more sittings. We take cognizance of the fact that the COVID-19 pandemic has made us slow down the number of sittings. We have been meeting once a week, but as a Senate, we have a lot of pending business. Mr. Speaker, Sir, there are only 440 days left to the next elections or to the end of the term of this Senate yet as we speak today, we have 52 Bills that have been published, 23 Bills that are at the Second Reading stage, one is at the Committee stage and one is due for First Reading. We have 52 Petitions. Petitions have timelines that we need to respond to as a House. It will be a huge disappointment if we do not finish the work of this Senate. I think we have a lot. From next week, in as much as Tuesday is a public holiday, Wednesday and Thursday, ideally, if I could have been allowed to amend this Motion, which I will not, we would have met in the morning and in the afternoon. This is a huge workload. Members have Motions on various issues, some are urgent and we never get to them. You have just deferred almost 10 Statements and this is where we are supposed to be. Mr. Speaker, Sir, you also recognise that following the court ruling, several Bills which we had already dealt with as a Senate had to start the process again to be republished. These Bills went through rigorous process of legislation and public participation. I can give you an example of the Pandemic Response Management Bill, which I had sponsored. We had more than 164 different individuals and institutions coming to give their views. Unfortunately, after we had gone through the entire process and submitted it to the National Assembly, we have to start again. Mr. Speaker, Sir, I have another four; the Prompt Payment Bill which I sponsored with Sen. Farhiya which again we have to start, the Startup Bill which has been read for the First Time today - I am grateful for that - The National Disaster Management Bill and the County Government Public Service Boards Bill that is yet to be published. These Bills went through rigorous public participation. I just want to assure the House and I will give an example of the Startup Bill, we interacted with many members of the startup community who proposed several amendments and even wanted some alterations. I would like to assure them that the Bill has been published with those amendments now incorporated. The same applies to the Prompt Payment Bill; the amendments were already passed and we have incorporated them in the new published Bill as well as the Disaster Management Bill, which I sponsored with Sen. Mutula Kilonzo Jnr. Because we do not just do things for the sake of doing things technically, that means that some of those processes in the normal processing of the Bill can be done faster; we can expedite. We do not have to go through the deepest extent."
}