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{
    "id": 110980,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/110980/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 223,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "Mr. ole Metito",
    "speaker_title": "The Assistant Minister for Regional Development Authorities",
    "speaker": {
        "id": 199,
        "legal_name": "Judah Katoo Ole-Metito",
        "slug": "judah-ole-metito"
    },
    "content": "of parcels of land that an individual or group of individuals can own. Again, this contradicts Chapter Four, which is on the Bill of Rights that gives citizens the right to access resources. I am, therefore, particularly concerned on the Chapter on land and environment. If we are talking of devolved units, and then you put in the Schedule that: “There shall be the following devolved units---”, it is very important that we consider not only the communities or the region to have that devolved unit, but also the viability of that devolved unit. Devolved units are going to be viable if we do not take away the resources within those units and put them under the management of the Central Government. Later on, I will be forwarding to you my proposed amendments on this Chapter. If we devolve units and put resources such as game reserves, national parks and other community owned resources under the Central Government, that particular unit is not going to be viable. It is very critical that this time round, we give Kenyans the power to make decisions on how those resources are going to be managed. Even if you give a region a certain resource but the management of that resource is put under a central Government organ – in this respect, the National Land Commission – you will not have empowered the communities living in that unit. Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir, Chapter Four is the Bill of Rights, which is considered to be the “people’s Chapter”. As we expand the Bill of Rights, we should do so with the national security in mind. In my opinion, this Chapter seems to compromise the national security. If you look at Article 31, on privacy; Article 5, access to information; Article 36, the right to association; and, Article 37, the right to assembly, demonstration, picketing and petition, these Articles need to be re-looked at with national security in mind. We should not compromise national security in the name of giving people more rights or expanding the Bill of Rights. An issue that I know is contentious is that on transitional and consequential provision as stipulated under Chapter 18 of the proposed Constitution. Under Article 261, Separation of Powers, we are trying to separate, say, the Executive from the Legislature, and either of the two arms from the Judiciary. I think we need to re-look at Article 261(7) and others under this Article, where we are having one arm of Government, specifically the Judiciary, giving orders to the Legislature to do “a”, “b” and “c” within a particular period of time. This will overlap the need to ensure separation of powers. Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir, my concern on Chapter 16 is the issue of amendment to the Proposed Constitution. We should not live in an environment of mistrust or too much fear. As other hon. Members have said, we cannot have a perfect Constitution. There is no single perfect Constitution in the world. We have also been told that laws are not cast in stone. They can always be improved for the betterment of the lives of the people. So, it is not necessary to live in an environment of mistrust and too much fear to an extent that we lock that room for amendment. Under Chapter 16 of this Proposed Constitution, there are a lot of things that have been included providing that every time you may want to amend the Constitution, you will have to go for a referendum. Even when you want to amend a specific Chapter, you will have to seek the support of citizens through a referendum. So, this Chapter should be looked into, because a lot of things can be achieved through amendments in the National Assembly which will be checked by the Senate. We do not need to subject the people of"
}