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{
    "id": 1174551,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/1174551/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 159,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "Sen. M. Kajwang’",
    "speaker_title": "",
    "speaker": {
        "id": 13162,
        "legal_name": "Moses Otieno Kajwang'",
        "slug": "moses-otieno-kajwang"
    },
    "content": "Madam Deputy Speaker, if you allow me, this matter is very important. Even though we are coming to an end of the term of this House and going to elections, this is so important because those aspiring to come to this Senate are going to find themselves in a shell of a House. They will not find the House that is envisaged in the Constitution. Articles 93 and 94 talk about establishment of Parliament and its role. It goes ahead to talk about Parliament being the guarantor of the will of the people. Parliament comprises the Senate and the National Assembly. It is unfortunate that I am using the word “mischief” twice today. Even though it has to do with what Sen. Omogeni has cited, these omnibus amendments are mischievous. When you look at the timing and the content, you can clearly conclude that some people somewhere have come up with a scheme to whittle down the powers of the Senate, amend the Constitution through the backdoor, kill bicameralism and abrogate duties that were the preserve of Parliament collectively to the National Assemblies. We should not sound helpless. Previously, this Senate has taken a firm decision, despite opposition from the Executive and some of those decisions and actions being politically incorrect. It is that political incorrectness that has enabled the Senate to be what it is today. Madam Deputy Speaker, the Senate I joined in 2015 is definitely not the Senate that I will leave briefly in 2022. If the Senate that we are going to come to post-9th August, 2022 is going to be the sole discretion of the Speaker of the National Assembly to determine at what point to comply with Article 110, then there will be no need to waste taxpayers’ money on Senate. There will be no need for us to walk around calling ourselves the “Upper House”. We cannot appear to be helpless. These issues are alive. Even as we focus on our campaigns and the political season, it is important that we provide direction to our Legal Directorates to take the necessary action to ensure that the duties of the Senate are not reduced through these omnibus amendments. I thank Sen. Omogeni for his vigilance. Even though everyone is talking of campaigns, he has been vigilant enough to scrutinise these omnibus amendments and see the mischief. I also thank the lawyers in this House who have sacrificed their professional time and service. That is why I was a bit unhappy earlier when the Senator for Vihiga County tabled three financial years’ reports of the Parliamentary Service Commission before this"
}