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{
    "id": 1196690,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/1196690/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 66,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "Sen. Murkomen",
    "speaker_title": "",
    "speaker": {
        "id": 440,
        "legal_name": "Onesimus Kipchumba Murkomen",
        "slug": "kipchumba-murkomen"
    },
    "content": "Speaker when they were not present. I was also given the honour of being in the Pan- African Parliament (PAP). Through that, I served this country and the Senate with a lot of diligence, commitment and passion. I remember that it did not take six months and as a Chair of the Committee on Devolution and Intergovernmental Relations, I had to guide the House when we decided to go to the Supreme Court for an advisory opinion. That was a time when the mandate of this House was being challenged by the National Assembly. This House must be remembered that in the first year of the Senate, we did not get the opportunity to discuss the County Allocation of Revenue Bill and Division of Revenue Bill. At that point in time, the National Assembly thought we should not have that mandate. However, because of our concerted effort as a team and the trust that the leadership of the House at that time had, we managed to ensure that we got an advisory opinion from the Supreme Court that protected the authority and jurisdiction of this House. Sadly, this House has continued to suffer in the hands of our sister House, the National Assembly. In 2016, it did not take three years until my colleague, hon. Charles Keter, who was the Senate Deputy Majority Leader then, was nominated, the same way I have to serve in the Cabinet. In the opportunity that came, my party nominated and approved me to serve as the Senate Deputy Majority Leader. Again, at a young age, barely 36 years, I became the Senate Deputy Majority Leader of this House. From then on, I relinquished other responsibilities. Furthermore, it must be remembered that at a time when we had a challenge about the mandate of this House, I became the Chair of a select Committee deputized by the former Sen. Mutula Kilonzo Jnr. then, to find ways of using the Constitution to again protect the mandate of this House. I have been lucky to be part of many initiatives in this House, including being a member of a joint Committee for both Houses, Co-Chaired by Sen. Kiraitu Murungi and Sen. Orengo, that was formed in 2016. It looked into electoral reforms and led to the massive electoral reforms. I leave this House having sponsored a number of Bills and pushed many of them as the Senate Majority Leader. I was re-elected in 2017 and given the responsibility of being the Senate Majority Leader. In the two-and-a-half years I served, I pushed so many Bills and continuously fought for the authority and the protection of the mandate and jurisdiction of this House on matters Bills. That was especially on the operationalization of Article 110 of the Constitution. That responsibility required at times to disagree with the Executive of the very party that nominated me. I believe some of the reasons I was removed as the Senate Majority Leader, apart from other external political reasons, was that I brought to this Chamber a 20-page Statement challenging the Nairobi Metropolitan Services (NMS) as an entity taking over responsibility of Nairobi City County. The President then might have been angry with me. However, as the Senate Majority Leader, I swore to protect and defend the Constitution. I am glad that as time"
}