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{
"id": 1103911,
"url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/1103911/?format=api",
"text_counter": 377,
"type": "speech",
"speaker_name": "Sen. Halake",
"speaker_title": "",
"speaker": {
"id": 13184,
"legal_name": "Abshiro Soka Halake",
"slug": "abshiro-soka-halake"
},
"content": "Madam Deputy Speaker, as much as we wish to run away from some facts, facts are very stubborn. When I talked about not binding, I did not mean that we have no right to censure. I meant that, perhaps, the outcome we want as this House, mainly, for instance, a punishment or some consequence for non-appearance of these Cabinet Secretaries, may not be realized because this is not a Motion of ‘No Confidence’ and that, that may be short of it. However, can we criticize and broadly make sure that we, on behalf of our electorate and the country, criticize and put to account? Of course, yes. One of things my debate was going to take us towards is to say, what are some of the outcomes that are going to form part of this censure Motion? Yes, I am a first timer; I am not going to pretend that I have been here for 10 years. However, what I am observing, which I am not going to retract from, is the fact that what outcome this is going to give us. It has given us the opportunity, as this House, to make sure we do what we do best; representation of our people and to hold accountable some of the arms of Government that we work with. We are doing that very well, but we cannot sit here and pretend that we are going to have certain outcomes or hope that this censure Motion is going to give us what we wanted to do, for instance, bring these people here. It has not done that. That having been said, I am not here to belittle our House. I am part of it and I take responsibility for the entire matter. I am in the committee that has made sure today that we summoned the Cabinet Secretaries. We will do what we can, so that we air our views and ensure that we hold the Executive accountable. With regard to consequences, maybe Sen. Orengo will give us an advisory opinion and tell us what exactly will happen. However, to my knowledge, I do not see us being able to use a censure Motion to get the outcomes we want; maybe I can be corrected on that. Having said that, the material of my presentation, as I support the censure Motion, is that it is about time we looked at other innovative approaches as to how to work with the Executive because we have been told, and everybody has said that this fuel price hike, the taxation on renewable energy, for instance, which I also brought a Statement to this House to that effect, was gross injustices to the poor of this country. The fact that they cannot even come before us to tell us that this is the reason and this is what occasioned these things, is blatant disregard for the rule of law and the House of Parliament. I support the censure Motion because it gives us the opportunity to make sure that our stance is known as this House and we can look at other innovative ways of taking our accountability to the next level and make sure that even as we censure them, what outcome we will get. This is where I was going with that debate; to say that we have had our say for two days now, but Wanjiku is still in the same situation; the boda boda guy is still in the same situation; the people in northern Kenya who are taxed heavily for portable solar panels are still in the same situation. Their electricity bills are out of hand. What are we going to do to achieve the outcomes that the people of Kenya deserve? That is the reason for some of the binding things we do. We are not just doing things for the sake of it; we are doing things so that we achieve results. While I am cognizant of the fact that every effort that a Member of Parliament makes will eventually lead to awareness or certain actions, we must devise methods and make sure that we are not just a talk shop. We must ensure that we put our money where our mouths are."
}