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{
    "id": 1162738,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/1162738/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 356,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "Sen. Omogeni",
    "speaker_title": "",
    "speaker": {
        "id": 13219,
        "legal_name": "Erick Okong'o Mogeni",
        "slug": "erick-okongo-mogeni"
    },
    "content": "I served as Chairperson of Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission (EACC) and I had the benefit of visiting a number of countries. I remember one case of Nigeria. I went to Nigeria after Olusegun Obasanjo had taken office. He appointed Nuhu Ribadu as the head of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC). I know it was painful to a number of former and serving cabinet ministers in Nigeria. Houses were recovered and converted into hospitals in Nigeria. That is what we are looking forward to, where big houses that have been bought using public resources will be recovered and handed back to the people. I know there are people who this House has dealt with. There are people who we have impeached who were in the process of buying houses worth hundreds of millions of shillings. They have not been able to complete those transactions because we acted as a Senate. Therefore, Sen. (Dr.) Ochillo-Ayacko, let us not give up on this fight because we are on the right course. This House will be on record as one that impeached three sitting governors and that is commendable. What we need to do is to call out on our Members of County Assemblies (MCAs). They should read and understand the provisions of Article 185 of the Constitution. Madam Temporary Speaker, the role of oversight has been placed on our MCAs. The constitutional architect that we have in this country is equivalent to what they have in the USA, where while impeaching a sitting president of the USA, it is the House of Representatives that does the investigations and impeachment and forwards the file to the Senate to conduct the trial. In this country, what we have in our Constitution and the County Governments Act, is a constitutional legal framework where MCAs have been given the first responsibility to do oversight, investigate corruption incidences and then forward the files to us as Senators, once they have done the impeachment, for the House to conduct a trial and pass a verdict. Therefore, we sit as judges here. We are not the ones who do the investigations. Sometimes when I am in Nyamira, I hear people saying that if elected, they will do good oversight. Our business is to sit as judges and preside over the trial of governors. We need to make a special and passionate appeal to our MCAs, so that any time they see this wonderful report that has been tabled by Sen. (Dr.) Ochillo-Ayacko, they should take it up, go to their respective county assemblies and do thorough investigations. Where they are able to confirm the authenticity – I do not doubt the authenticity of this report – then they can impeach and send the impeachment files to us as Senators and we shall do the right thing. I would like to make a strong appeal to our MCAs not to play small. They are not small because they are honourable MCAs. The Constitution gives them powers to summon county executives. All the irregularities that have been raised here, like failure to prepare quarterly financial reports, irregular payments from revenue collection accounts, collusions where they go to court and file consents so that they do cover ups on some irregularities, breaches on imprest surrender and unsupported expenditures are issues that our MCAs"
}