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{
    "id": 1167444,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/1167444/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 168,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "Dagoretti South, JP",
    "speaker_title": "Hon. John Kiarie",
    "speaker": {
        "id": 13322,
        "legal_name": "John Kiarie Waweru",
        "slug": "john-kiarie-waweru"
    },
    "content": "I also recognise the work that the Committee had to do up to and including the support they got from our support staff in Parliament. It would be sacrilegious of me to talk about this Report without commending all the people who have put the hard work and the heavy lifting to painstakingly prepare this Report. This is a very robust Report. Hon. Speaker, I had made a number of proposals and I would not want to dwell into each one of them individually but, with your permission, I will just highlight them as headliners and say that it was in my view that we should change the way we appoint the Leader of the Majority Party. I had made one proposal on the mode of appointing the Leader of the Majority Party and the Leader of Minority Party once they have been elected by the respective parties. My proposal had been that after the Leader of the Majority Party is elected or selected by his party; this should actually be formally communicated to the Speaker by the chairperson or secretary-general of the majority or minority party that is appointing this individual for information to the House. This is seeking to remedy a situation where we have not had a clear way of this communication getting to the Speaker. Secondly, I had thought that the Office of the Leader of the Majority Party and the Office of the Leader of the Minority Party are extremely important offices. These are people who do work beyond the sittings in Chamber and the sittings in committee and I was looking for a way where we would strengthen those leadership offices so that we can facilitate them to discharge their duties. Thirdly, I had made a proposal on how we can align the process of removal from office of the Leader of the Majority Party and the Leader of the Minority Party with due process and fair administrative action. I had also made a proposal where I was looking for a way we would increase Members participation in committees. When we joined as fresh young Members, we realised the problem that the leadership faced in placing each and every Member in a committee. So, we were comfortable going into committees that have 19 Members. However, the moment the work began, I personally observed that it becomes increasingly difficult for people to conduct committee business. Hon. Speaker, you have severally told us that Parliament in plenary is actually parliament in exhibition and that the actual work happens in committees. So, I was seeking to see if we could be able to increase Members participation in committees by reducing Members from 19 to 15. I had also looked at the establishment of a Public Debt Committee. This is in light of the situation that this country is in. Our debts are actually an existential threat for this country. So even as we have the Budget and Appropriations Committee and the Departmental Committee on Finance and National Planning, it was my view that to address the very peculiar and special situation that we have in Kenya, we should have a Public Debt Committee that actually interrogates the debt situation in this country, and puts a pulse on the finger on the debt of the country but, most importantly, assists our Budget and Appropriations Committee and the Departmental Committee on Finance and National Planning. This is because we are normally told that a debt problem is actually a budgeting problem. So, if we had a debt committee, it would ably advise our Budget and Appropriations Committee and the Departmental Committee on Finance and National Planning and we could start walking the path towards a better debt for this country. I had proposed that it would be important for us to have a conference with the Senate. I know we have had sibling rivalry since the onset of this arrangement where we have a bicameral house that was brought by the new Constitution. I thought that it would be good if the Houses of Parliament could actually organise formally conferences that would help us tackle what we call sibling rivalry between the two Houses in this bicameral Parliament. Finally, I had made a proposal which was the Members’ Roll and the details of it exist in the proposal I had made. I am grateful The electronic version of the Official Hansard Report is for information purposesonly. A certified version of this Report can be obtained from the Hansard Editor."
}