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{
    "id": 1201932,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/1201932/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 186,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "Sen. Cheptumo",
    "speaker_title": "",
    "speaker": {
        "id": 13591,
        "legal_name": "Cheptumo William Kipkiror",
        "slug": "cheptumo-william-kipkiror"
    },
    "content": "His proposal is for both Houses of Parliament to amend the Standing Orders to allow Cabinet Secretaries to appear before us, so that we can ask them questions and raise issues which concern our people. In my view, it was clear that the President had nothing to hide. All he wants is to ensure that Kenyans get value for the taxes they pay. Mr. Speaker, Sir, Sen. (Dr.) Khalwale, yourself and I were MPs in 2007. Allow me to inform the new Members. In 2007 when we had the Tenth Parliament, this used to be the Chamber. The National Assembly Chamber was reconstructed just the other day. Sen. (Dr.) Khalwale and Sen. Mungatana will remember this. At that time, I was the Assistant Minister for Justice and Constitutional Affairs. I remember I was asked why there are no law courts in Homa Bay, Nakuru and other parts of the country. I remember making clear undertakings in the House. I shared with the Permanent Secretary (PS) who at that time was Hon. Amina Mohamed, the outgoing Cabinet Secretary (CS) for Sports, Heritage and Culture and we availed funds to those institutions. It was possible to achieve that because the Ministers could be invited in the House. Therefore, I agree with the President that that is the way to go. I was the Chairperson of Justice and Legal Affairs Committee (JLAC) in the National Assembly in the Twelfth Parliament. Previously, I was the Chairperson of the Committee on Delegated Legislation in the Ninth Parliament. We used to invite Ministers to our committees and only Members of the committee could ask questions. We had a situation where the Ministers in charge of Internal Security--- Currently the people of Baringo, Turkana, Elgeyo-Marakwet and Samburu counties are facing serious challenges of insecurity, but we cannot invite the CS in charge and ask questions. If we follow the President’s proposals, I assure Kenyans that these Members will hold the Government to account. I am proud to belong to the Kenya Kwanza Coalition because the President of this country would like CSs to appear before the Houses of Parliament. Most of them do not do certain things because they fear. Therefore, this is positive and, I appreciate the President. It is important that we give him the support he needs. I am saying this from experience following what I witnessed in 2007 to 2013 when I served as Assistant Minister for Justice and Constitutional Affairs. Mr. Speaker, Sir, allow me to also comment on the issue of access to justice. That was a whole paragraph in his Speech. Article 159 of the Constitution sets out the principles. It states that justice shall be done to all and that justice shall not be delayed. They say that justice delayed is justice denied. In my county, we have a High Court in Kabarnet but we have six constituencies. Somebody in Tiaty Constituency has to travel more than 250 kilometres to access justice in the High Court. It is even better because we have a High Court in our county headquarters. However, other counties do not have even one. Justice cannot be accessed by Kenyans in certain areas if that is the case. I would also like to share my experience because I want my colleagues to understand. When I was the Chairperson of the JLAC in the National Assembly, we used to receive proposals from the Judiciary and their resource requirements used to be to the tune of Kshs34 billion. How much do we give them every financial year? It is not more than Kshs18 billion. Half of their budget is not availed."
}