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"content": "(iii) Hon. Sen. Fatuma Adan Dullo, CBS, MP. Hon. Speaker, it is imperative that Members of this House note that the PSC, as I have stated, is anchored under Article 127(2) of the Constitution, and has a very critical responsibility of ensuring the efficient and effective functioning and running of Parliament. By saying Parliament, I mean this House and our sister House, the Senate. I further seek to thank the leadership of both the Minority and Majority parties of both Houses for their joint engagement in ensuring that this process of nominating Members who will represent us in the Commission, which as I said is a constitutional Commission like all other commissions, is indeed, a success. Hon. Speaker, as the Chairman of this Commission, you know that this Commission, like any other, is subject to oversight. The committee that oversights this Commission is a very important committee, namely, the Members’ Welfare and Services Committee, now chaired by Hon. Wachira Karani, the Member for Laikipia West. When we were having engagements in the selection of committees, many Members were afraid of joining the Members’ Welfare and Services Committee because of the connotation of its past name. When I was having a conversation with some Members, I told them that this is the Committee that oversights the PSC. Other than the Justice and Legal Affairs Committee, which also has that rare privilege of oversighting a constitutional commission, there are many privileges that come with oversighting your own employer, the Parliamentary Service Commission. We are also aware that matters concerning Members and staff welfare, both at the constituency level and in Parliament, are carried out through the Parliamentary Service Commission. Therefore, there is no doubt as to the amount of work that is on the in-tray of the incoming commissioners. It is important that as we approve these commissioners, they bear in mind that they are getting into the commission to serve the interest of the entire Parliament. They are not being nominated into the commission to push their own personal agendas like employing their relatives or village mates, but to ensure that even staff who are recruited by the PSC reflect the diversity of our nation in terms of regional representation, ethnic representation, gender and everything that pertains to equitable and fair representation of Kenyans. As I move this Motion, I wish to implore the proposed Members of this commission to perform their duties diligently devoid of any political party affiliations, as this is the only way to ensure that Parliament is able to provide services and facilities as provided under Article 127(6) of our Constitution. The Parliamentary Service Commission Strategic Plan for 2019-2030 provides that the Parliamentary Service Commission will adopt deliberate and strategic policies that will actualise a people-centred democratic Parliament by the year 2030. In this regard, this Commission, if approved, has a lot required of them. They should ensure that Members of Parliament are facilitated to effectively and efficiently discharge their mandate of legislation, representation and oversight in line with the Constitution. Speaking about a people-centred democratic parliament by the year 2030, I think the outgoing commission that developed this ten-year strategic plan was, indeed, visionary when creating the democratic and people-centred Parliament to be the vision. We must, therefore, ensure that the Members who are being nominated to the Commission ensure that all the Members here and the Senators are empowered and properly facilitated to carry out their representation roles. On this note, Hon. Members, I know that we have had a long running fight with our siblings in the other House on the Senators’ Fund. I plead with my colleagues in this 13th Parliament to be the House that will rise to the occasion to ensure that we facilitate our Senators to carry out their representation role as effectively as possible. As we facilitate the Senate, as Members of the National Assembly – who are more of the people’s representatives than the 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."
}