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{
    "id": 1097636,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/1097636/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 115,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "Tongaren, FORD-K",
    "speaker_title": "Hon. (Dr.) Eseli Simiyu",
    "speaker": {
        "id": 141,
        "legal_name": "David Eseli Simiyu",
        "slug": "david-eseli"
    },
    "content": " Thank you, Hon. Speaker, for giving me this chance to also give my thoughts on the matter. I wish to thank Hon. Duale for bringing up this matter. Hon. Speaker, even as you bring us your considered opinion on this matter, perhaps, you need to keep in mind the fact that what has happened with the courts is that they have virtually blocked any popular initiative because there is no way Wanjiku, Nekesa or Moraa will raise the capital to do all the things that the court said they should do in order to promote a popular initiative. So, that avenue is more or less closed. So, the only avenue open now is the parliamentary initiative. As you give your opinion, please, consider the fact that, that is perhaps the only avenue left for us to amend the Constitution and allow the Bills before the House to run their course. Some of the Bills might require a referendum and some might not. So, it will be good to let the Bills run their course in the House. We are not foreigners in this country. The Judiciary did not come from Mars. It is part of this country. We must accept the fact that whatever vicissitudes the country goes through, they also affect the Judiciary. Impunity, corruption and tribalism also affect the Judiciary because it is part of us. So, we should not behave like the Judiciary is a different animal from Kenyans. The Judiciary is Kenyan and what ails Kenya also ails the Judiciary. We should keep that in mind. We should also realise that there has been a push and pull between the Judiciary and the Executive on one hand and between the Judiciary and the Legislature on the other to an extent that the Judiciary has thrown out certain sections of Statutes that were enacted by the Legislature. The Judiciary has annulled many appointments by the Executive. So, there has been that push and pull. We cannot pretend that those things are not happening. They are. When we go back to the basic structure issue, when they say that the pure presidential system is part of the basic structure, I start wondering whether some people have just landed from Mars. The constituent assembly that was held at the Bomas of Kenya did not recommend a pure presidential system. The pure presidential system was a creature of some people who sat in Naivasha. It was not from Bomas. So, on the matter of basic structure, one of the main amendments was to get what was agreed upon at the Bomas of Kenya during the constituent assembly. It is a bit vexing if we keep accepting that we should bow down to the Judiciary. We should be collaborative and work in tandem, and not antagonistically."
}