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{
    "id": 1201057,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/1201057/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 137,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "Sen. Thangw’a",
    "speaker_title": "",
    "speaker": null,
    "content": "Regarding the President’s Address, I would like Members to look at Paragraph 16. The President said that his administration will rely on oversight by the House to make sure that the public gets value for every cent invested in every policy, programme and project. That clearly shows that the President respects separation of powers in the Arms of Government and recognizes that this Senate will provide oversight. President Ruto is not afraid of criticism and he would want us to state things as they are for him to run the Government. He is on record saying that he was once advised by Hon. Muite, who is my county constituent, that criticizing your own Government is part of showing support to that Government. This, therefore, tells us that the President wants us to execute our mandate without coercion or any intimidation. I can recall Senators, especially from the Azimio la Umoja One Kenya Alliance side, complaining of the impunity of former Cabinet Secretaries (CSs). They also said that the CSs were not honouring summons from either this House or the National Assembly. I am happy that the President provided a solution by asking this House to amend its Standing Orders so that they can be appearing before us to answer questions on matters development or on the dockets under them. There was a question on whether that is possible. I would like to put across a question, so that as we deliberate this issue, maybe it is going to provide guidance. This House, especially the previous Senate, will go down in history as one that had many impeachment proceedings. I can recall that we used to have strangers in the House during impeachment proceedings. We used to have lawyers interacting with Senators through points of order. We had governors who came to this Senate to answer questions. Therefore, as we ponder about the issue of the CSs coming to this House, probably there is a way. I do not believe that now that an olive branch has been extended to us, we should refer to CSs as strangers. We know that the CS for National Treasury and Planning reads the Budget in the National Assembly. Do we refer to him as a stranger at that particular time yet he appears before us? We should find a way of inviting CSs to ask them questions. Sometimes the reason they do not listen or honour the summons could be that they have no respect for the committees. However, when invited by the House, I believe no one would refuse to come. The same should be replicated in the county governments, whereby County Executive Committee Members (CECMs) should also appear before Members of County Assemblies (MCAs). I am a former CECM in Kiambu County Government. I think the Senate should use me as a case study because I worked both as an MCA and later on in a different county government as a CECM. When you invite CECMs or CSs at a committee level, they rarely give their all. This is because sometimes people are interested but you only need to talk to the chairperson and everything is okay. However, when you invite them to the House, they will have respect for every Senator, regardless of which committee that a Senator is a Member."
}