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{
"id": 1202746,
"url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/1202746/?format=api",
"text_counter": 167,
"type": "speech",
"speaker_name": "Sen. Cheruiyot",
"speaker_title": "The Senate Majority Leader",
"speaker": {
"id": 13165,
"legal_name": "Aaron Kipkirui Cheruiyot",
"slug": "aaron-cheruiyot"
},
"content": "I, however, at least celebrate him. It begins by first voicing it and admitting that there are people who may not have necessarily voted for you and do not see you as their President. Regardless of that particular situation, he says he will still undertake his duties, execute programs and run his development agenda so that every Kenyan will feel part and parcel of this country. That is something worth applauding. He then moved on to lay the legislative agenda in this House. We have a long- standing issue between us and the National Assembly, on which Bills are supposed to come to the Senate and which ones can be prosecuted by the National Assembly without any particular reference to this House. I listened to him. I have had an occasion to privately hear him commit and say that this protracted battle that has existed for the last two Sessions of Parliament is not helpful to us as a country. We need to lay this matter to rest. The Members of the National Assembly should listen to the good reason of the Senators even as we wait for the Supreme Court to make a determination. There is nothing wrong with having a second eye. A different House from the one that laid out a particular Bill, may speak to it, add their voice, make it better and make particular changes. There is nothing wrong with that. It does not reduce their authority as a House. In any case, if it is about resources, because that is the source of the biggest battle, none of us has ever insisted that we want to do the national budget. As Senate, we always busy ourselves with the Division of Revenue. Once it has been divided between the two levels of government, our next point of debate with them has been how much goes to the specific counties. Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir, I hope that as we conclude on this process by either a ruling of the court or consensus, we can settle this matter soon, even before this Session of Parliament comes to an end. As we begin the new calendar year, we can then know very well the place of Senate and National Assembly, so that we can focus to that which matters to ordinary citizens. The ordinary citizen is not bothered with which is the upper or lower House and who is supposed to consider budgetary issues. What they want to see are tangible results, better lives, their votes counting and having a meaningful proposition for waking up early and giving us a chance to lead them. Therefore, it is something worth considering. Consequently, Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir, in paragraph 16 of his Speech, the President requested if, through our Standing Orders, we can consider allowing Cabinet Secretaries (CSs) to explain Government policy and answer questions on the Floor of our House. If there will be a bigger beneficiary to this policy, then it is the Senate. Senators who have been in this House previously know that this will be quite important to us. In the course of time, you will realise that on many occasions, when a CS has been invited before the National Assembly and the Senate, Sen. M. Kajwang’ will tell you where they are most likely to go and why. Therefore, if we succeed to convince both Houses and have this included, I do not see a reason we cannot do this. It will be important to face our colleagues in the Cabinet and have them appear before this House. We will set time for them either in the morning"
}