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{
    "id": 1086286,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/1086286/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 190,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "Seme, ODM",
    "speaker_title": "Hon. (Dr.) James Nyikal",
    "speaker": {
        "id": 434,
        "legal_name": "James Nyikal",
        "slug": "james-nyikal"
    },
    "content": " Thank you, Hon. Speaker. There is a gap in our interaction with the Executive. It needs to be filled. You will remember that, at the beginning of the 11th Parliament, there was serious discussion and almost an agreement that even though Speakers are not Members of Parliament, we can create a corner where the Cabinet Secretary for Finance could read the budget highlights from and make similar arrangements. If the Cabinet Secretary for Treasury can come to the House in that arrangement and read a statement, I do not see why, in such important issues where you want a Cabinet Secretary to have a feel and hear what Members are saying, they cannot come and read the statement from the same spot. We hope if we go through the referendum and change the Constitution, the arrangement will become a reality. From what I saw in the 11th Parliament, I think it is something we need to revisit. I have been responsible for writing answers and reports for ministers. It is clear at that time that if the minister was coming to the Floor of the House, you had to imagine and think of what could be supplementary questions that would arise. What are the related issues that Members could raise? With live transmission of parliamentary proceedings, we would see and listen to what the Minister is saying and the questions by Members. At that time, we also had assistant ministers. My Minister is here: Hon. Shaban. We would actually wait and if questions arose, we would write short answers and text or call the Assistant Minister and say: “We can see the Minister is going to face that question, but our supplementary answer did not include the question.” The process was taken very seriously. I think what is happening now is that they say, “They are looking for a statement. Who do I give the statement? The Chair of the Committee.” I do not think the relationship between our Chairs and the Cabinet Secretaries is what it should be. I think some of our Chairs have taken subordinate positions below the Cabinet Secretaries. That is the way statements are treated. I actually feel we waste time with these statements. Either we ask questions and the Cabinet Secretaries appear before Committees or we take a bold step – although it may be too late in the day - to make arrangements and have the Cabinet Secretaries appear in the House. They will always come with a battery of the people who sit with them to help them answer supplementary 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."
}