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{
    "id": 1211771,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/1211771/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 190,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "Westlands, ODM",
    "speaker_title": "Hon. Tim Wanyonyi",
    "speaker": null,
    "content": " Thank you, Hon. Deputy Speaker. I wish to contribute on this Motion. It is good that this Motion has come back to this House after the attempt by the Building Bridges Initiative (BBI) to do almost similar amendments that are being proposed here. The only mistake in the BBI was that there was an exclusive element in that initiative. Some quotas of the population felt excluded from the process and that is why it was opposed and defeated at the Supreme Court. The proposal by the President is good and far reaching. We look at how we want to create the position of the leader of opposition. When Kenyans elected to give themselves the Constitution of 2010, they wanted to have a presidential system of Government. In the presidential setup, we do not have this position of leader of opposition. Therefore, what we are trying to create is a hybrid of presidential and parliamentary system because the leader of opposition is brought in. That also brings in another angle that the official leader of opposition must be a Member of Parliament. At the moment, the leaders of opposition are outside this House. In the presidential system, once the person who has won is confirmed as the President, there is no position for official opposition. Parliament and other institutions will provide oversight. Having looked at this, it is good that Kenyans start looking at this issue properly. The Constitution is ripe for audit. We can now look at the areas that are not working so that we can enrich them by providing amendments. Creating the position of leader of opposition, for example, is a good thing in that the leader will provide that leadership in the oversight proposal. The other thing is the proposal to bring cabinet secretaries to come and answer Questions on the Floor of the House by amending our Standing Orders. I do not feel comfortable with this proposal. The best way on this would have been a proposal to appoint cabinet secretaries from the House, then we have others from outside and the rest could also become ex-officio Members of Parliament where they can come and answer Questions. Therefore, on that initiative, I still find it a bit uncomfortable and the way the cabinet secretaries are established today should remain where they are. They can answer Questions through committees because they are set up to provide oversight over the Executive, and Parliament can still do it. We have done it since 2010 in the past two Parliaments. We have been overseeing the Executive and it can still be done with the current establishment. Cabinet secretaries can still appear before committees. I believe that is still a very good idea and we can entrench that. The entrenchment of the NG-CDF, the National Government Affirmative Action Fund (NGAAF) and the Oversight Fund for the Senate in the Constitution is a noble idea so that these funds are also protected from the people who just wake up one day and take it to court to oppose it. I am sure of what the NG-CDF has done in the past. I came to Parliament when the NG-CDF was in existence and I am very sure the Members of Parliament who served before 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."
}