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{
"id": 1199770,
"url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/1199770/?format=api",
"text_counter": 71,
"type": "speech",
"speaker_name": "Kikuyu, UDA",
"speaker_title": "Hon. Kimani Ichung’wah",
"speaker": null,
"content": "Hon. Speaker, as Members are aware, having elected our Speaker and Deputy Speaker, we are required under our Standing Order 16 to elect another person to preside over the House pursuant to Article 107(1)(c), which deals with presiding in Parliament and provides that the Speaker shall preside over all sittings of the House and in his absence, the Deputy Speaker, and if they are both not there, a Member of the House elected by the House presides. Therefore, what we are doing in approval of this Panel is basically equivalent to an election of the persons who will be presiding over the House in the absence of the Speaker or the Deputy Speaker. Previously, the Speaker would simply pick any Member in the Chamber to preside on his behalf, but subsequently under Standing Order 16, we created that proviso that we can institutionalise the Panel of Chairpersons to help the speakership in ensuring that there is seamless presiding of the House in the absence of the Speaker and the Deputy Speaker. Again, in line with the same Standing Order 16, those who served with us in the 11th and 12th Parliaments remember we had four Chairpersons, but now under the 6th Edition of the Standing Orders, we have six Members in the 13th Parliament to preside in the absence of both the Speaker and the Deputy Speaker. Therefore, by merely approving this list of Chairpersons, it will be deemed under Article 107(1)(c) of the Constitution and our own Standing Orders that we have in effect elected the six persons that are listed on the Order Paper that I have read out. All these are ranking Members. Hon. Peter Kaluma, Hon. David Ochieng, Hon. Martha Wangare and Hon. (Dr.) Rachael Nyamai are all serving their third terms in Parliament. Hon. Omboko Milemba who is right behind me, is also doing his second term and has been a diligent Member in the last Parliament when he first joined the House. It is also important to note that Hon. Farah Maalim, besides being a candidate for Deputy Speaker’s position, he is also serving his third term. He also served this House as Deputy Speaker to Hon. Marende, the then Speaker in the 10th Parliament. I will, therefore, ask Members to support the proposed persons to be Members of the Speaker’s Panel. For the benefit of our new Members…I know Hon. Farah Maalim had not seen where I was seated as I paid accolades to him being a seasoned veteran of the House. For the benefit of our new Members of Parliament, the Panel of Chairpersons consists of Members who basically preside over the Third Reading. During the induction, I am sure we all went through the stages of legislation. The most important stage of legislation is not the Second Reading where we debate in plenary, but rather the Third Reading. These Chairpersons are the ones who preside over the House during the Third Reading. I really want to encourage our first-time Members of the 13th Parliament to, please, take their time when we begin real business. I know Members have been very eager to make their maiden speeches in this season when there is no much business to transact other than the Procedural Motions and a few other Motions that we have done. However, when we come to actual legislative work in the enactment of Bills, besides what happens in committees, the actual legislation is done in the Third Reading. Please, take your time. Be present during the Third Reading. There have been tendencies, especially in the 11th and 12th Parliaments where I am fortunate to have served, of Members massively walking out immediately the Chairperson took to the Chair for the Third Reading. I beg we take time. Without mentioning names, I remember an incident in the 11th Parliament where we changed legislation during the Third Reading to create a provision that had just been declared unconstitutional by the courts to require people who qualified to be elected as Members of Parliament to be university graduates. Half of the people who were not university graduates were seated in this Chamber. Others were enjoying their cup of tea at the Members lounge. After we finished, one Member, whom I do not want to mention because he is not in this House today, came running back asking “Imepitia wapi?” I do not want to say there would be any mischief in the kind of Bills that we will pass, but I pray that nobody will come running back 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."
}