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{
"id": 1194590,
"url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/1194590/?format=api",
"text_counter": 144,
"type": "speech",
"speaker_name": "Mathare, ODM",
"speaker_title": "Hon. Anthony Oluoch",
"speaker": null,
"content": " Thank you very much, Hon. Temporary Speaker. First, I want to congratulate both Members, Hon. Mule and Hon. Gichimu, for this timely Bill. Secondly, I want to thank the Speaker and the House Business Committee (HBC) for the ingenuity of availing the opportunity of a prepublication Motion that will allow Members to ventilate, thus obviating the very rigorous processes which happen before getting this. I want to urge the Speaker and the HBC to use the same ingenuity to obviate the 90 days prepublication period or the period said to be mandatorily undertaken before this is brought to the House for conclusion. Lastly, on these preliminary points, is to ask the HBC and the Speaker to use the same ingenuity to ensure Motions that Private Members discuss on Wednesday morning also have a similar prepublication platform with similar weight. So, from here, they go directly to drafting and then become Bills. Let me make my quick powerful points. I will start with three quick things which I think we need to do. First of all is the question of time. I have listened to what the Members have said, and it all comes to this, that unless this Bill is drafted and filed timeously, the people who I refer to as perpetrators of executive conspiracy against Members are waiting in tow so as to ensure that the question of this judgement being delivered in court by December takes place before this Bill is assented to. Unless this is done timeously, all that we are doing here will be of no effect. Hon. Temporary Speaker, this House must peg the bringing of any other serious Government Bill, including the supplementary budget that will come, to the question of this Bill having been debated and passed, or in its place the National Treasury releasing all the funds due to the 290 constituencies. I also want to raise a red flag on this issue because along the way, we will find crocodiles which we need to deal with. There is a monster in Article 115 of the Constitution, which I raised in the previous Parliament, and your predecessor ruled against. We need to watch it after we pass this Bill, which I am sure we will. Article 95 allows the President to refer back a Bill under Article 115(6) to the House with a memorandum and the possibility that unless we raise a two-thirds majority, then he overturns essentially what was passed. The effect of this, which I argued in the previous Parliament, is it imports what they call in the United States of America (USA) the line-item veto amendment, which is unconstitutional. It allows the Executive Head of Government to become a legislator through the back door by returning a Bill, which if you cannot raise two- thirds, becomes law. So, this is something we must look at. Therefore, the people who will be in the caucus championing this Bill must not only look for bi-partisanship between the Senate and the National Assembly, but for acceptance and acceptability with the National Treasury, the Attorney-General and other stakeholders. They should also look for political good will from the Executive Arm of Government, and in particular the President so that this is passed. Mr. President… Sorry, I mean, Hon. Temporary Speaker, I also want to support – maybe I am wishing him good tidings by referring to him as Mr. President. This is futuristic. Lastly, I want to agree with Hon. TJ Kajwang’, that we must separate these Bills. They must be four separate Bills in terms of the NG-CDF: The National Government Affirmative Action Fund (NGAAF), the Senate Oversight Fund, the Economic Stimulus and the Empowerment 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."
}