Entry Instance

HTTP 200 OK
Allow: GET, PUT, PATCH, DELETE, HEAD, OPTIONS
Content-Type: application/json
Vary: Accept

{
    "id": 1200180,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/1200180/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 126,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "Kikuyu, UDA",
    "speaker_title": "Hon. Kimani Ichung’wah",
    "speaker": null,
    "content": "20. Hon. Umulkher Harun; and 21. Hon. Ali Wario Guyo; Other than what is published on the Order Paper, the amendment from the Majority side is to include the Whip of the Majority Party in place of Hon. Joash Nyamoko. We have done that to try to achieve regional balance. Hon. Joash Nyamoko hails from the same region as Hon. Sylvanus Osoro. It is, indeed, important that the Whip be a member of the Committee on Selection. The Majority and Minority leadership have had a lot of engagements with Members seeking to be placed on certain committees. I have seen people queuing outside the Office of the Leader of the Minority Party, the same way people are queuing outside my office and the offices of the Whip and the Deputy Leader of the Majority Party. It is good for Members to appreciate that, under the Standing Orders, this is the Committee charged with the responsibility of placing Members on Committees. It is not the responsibility of the Leader of the Minority Party or the Leader of the Majority Party. Members of this Committee are the ones that you need to engage to place you on the committees of your choice. On the Majority side, we gave our Members the opportunity to list committees of their choice. I encourage my colleagues on the Minority side to organise themselves and have their Members’ list showing the committees they desire, so that when we get an opportunity to sit, once this Committee is approved by the House, we make our work easier in making a decision on a list that is agreed to by the Minority and Majority parties. It is a very tedious exercise and one that will take a lot of time. It will require us to balance various interests to be able to place Members on committees they are best suited for. I am sure all Members submitted their biodata during induction. We have copies of your curriculum vitae. So, we will be able to place you on committees of your choice. We will endeavour to make sure that you are placed on committees of your choice and those that are in line with your skills and competencies. I want to appeal to Members. The Majority side, for instance, has eight or so slots on the Departmental Committee on Transport and Infrastructure yet as at last night we had received requests from 79 Members who desire to be appointed to the Committee as their first choice. I know it is because of the challenges that Members have with roads and infrastructure in their constituencies. I want to assure Members that as much as 79 Members of the Majority Party cannot fit on that one Committee. We will endeavour to find the eight Members, considering regional, ethnic and party balance and interest of Independent Members. All 79 Members in the Majority Party cannot fit in that one Committee. We will endeavour to list the eight who will be lucky. These are the ones whom the Committee on Selection will find suitable to sit in that Committee. They will consider what we have done in this Committee. There will be regional, ethnic and party balance, including representation of our Independent Members. We see this in the Committee on Selection where Hon. Caroline Jeptoo Ng’elechei represents the Independent Members. Our small parties are also represented in this Committee. Therefore, we will take care of the interests of all Members. I want Members to trust that this Committee will be diligent, fair and just to each and every one of us, to make sure that we serve in committees where we will give our best to the service of our nation. Hon. Members, as I have indicated, it may not be possible to place everybody in their first-choice committees. However, we will endeavour to place you either in your first, second or third choice. I encourage you to engage with Members of this Committee with time and also be very understanding. As I said, I also encourage the Leader of the Minority Party, together with his leadership, to hasten to get the list of Members who will be nominated to certain committees, so that by the time we meet most of the ground work will have been done, and the Committee will just sit to ensure that there is proper balance—that we have placed the right people in the right committees. 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."
}