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{
    "id": 1126582,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/1126582/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 61,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "Garissa Township, JP",
    "speaker_title": "Hon. Aden Duale",
    "speaker": {
        "id": 15,
        "legal_name": "Aden Bare Duale",
        "slug": "aden-duale"
    },
    "content": "If you read the legislative powers from Article 109 all the way to Article 114 of the Constitution, they are crystal clear like day and night. The drafters of our Constitution knew what they were saying. That is why today, we can say that the Senate will never again encroach on the National Assembly’s mandate. Hon. Speaker, it is very clear - and you have said a number of times - that the Constitution says that a Member of Parliament can originate any Bill in the bicameral Parliament. The functions of budgetary provision, taxation, the Finance Bill, the Appropriation Bill and the vetting of public and state officers are exclusively the mandate of the National Assembly as stated very clearly in the Constitution. Hon. Speaker, you have seen over and over again, there are committees of this House which are mandated by the Constitution - and not even by the Standing Orders - that are being duplicated in the Senate. The people of Kenya… I have nothing against the Senate! In fact, in the 11th Parliament, we said even the leadership of this country knew the reasons… Those who came to the National Assembly knew why they were coming here and the powers of the National Assembly. Similarly, to those who went to the Senate! You know, the first Senate was more like ‘a house of old men’. That is why we saw Prof. Anyang’-Nyong’o, Kiraitu Murungi and the Late Yusuf Haji… Those are the pioneers of the Senate. Now, the young energetic Members who went to the Senate like Senator Hassan Omar and Senator Bonny Khalwale realised that, that House has no mandate or powers as clearly stated in the Constitution. The other issue which we did and which was very important - and Hon. Mbadi will agree with me - is that for seven years, we were dealing with those matters on Cross-Petition, and whether the offices of leadership in the Senate were provided for in the Constitution? I hope the Auditor-General is watching this. That, the Leader of Majority and the Leader of Minority is provided for in Article 108 of the Constitution. Ideally, the Leader of Minority in this House is supposed to be in-charge of his numbers in the minority side in the Senate. Hon. Kimunya is supposed to be the Leader of Majority in both Houses as the Constitution says. What happened is that people decided to use the Senate Standing Orders. Based on this, I want to say that the High Court has handled this matter very well. We asked the Attorney-General Emeritus of the Republic of Kenya, Prof. Githu Muigai and the current one: “Please, can the Government… This is because we saw the Cabinet Secretary for Interior and Coordination of National Government and the Cabinet Secretary for Foreign Affairs appearing in the Senate. So, we asked the Attorney-General to initiate the Cross-Petition by the National Assembly, concerning the establishment of those offices, so that they could be pursued. The leaders who have occupied those offices in the past and present must be surcharged for all the monies. The Auditor-General must surcharge them. The ball is in your court. You choose the Senate; you choose a House because it is not like the Senate of the United States (US). This is a momentous day because Article 110 (3) of the Constitution is very clear. Hon. Speaker, you must use your powers now and decide where the question arises. Bills from this House should not just go to the Senate and the decision will now be made by the Speaker. Hon. Speaker, finally, last week, I asked you about Article 132 of the Constitution on the President’s Address, which is a very important constitutional day."
}