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{
    "id": 1224412,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/1224412/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 208,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "Sen. Sifuna",
    "speaker_title": "",
    "speaker": {
        "id": 13599,
        "legal_name": "Sifuna Edwin Watenya",
        "slug": "sifuna-edwin-watenya"
    },
    "content": "Mr. Speaker, Sir, let me proceed to my second point, on the question of constitutionality. I heard Sen. Mungatana say that he can only be informed by the lawyers. In fact, my senior colleague understands that the question of interpretation of this Constitution has also been defined by who has the powers and ability to interpret the Constitution. It was not left to Sen. Mungatana and certainly not to me. It was provided under Article 165, to be the purview of the High Court. What we are doing here is reading and understanding the Constitution in the manner in which we do. We are grappling with this question. Pursuant to these amendments, what is going to be the effect of Article 153(3) of the Constitution because this is the only time that the drafters of the Constitution have provided a mechanism for the interaction between the Houses of Parliament and the members of the Executive? I remind the House that any rules we pass here, including the Standing Orders, are subservient to the Constitution. Nothing should bother you if there is a rule, regulation or Standing Order that is in conflict with the Constitution. Then the Standing Order is the one to give way and not the Constitution. Mr. Speaker, Sir, finally, is on the question of the content of these amendments. We were with you in Mombasa County during our retreat where Members raised certain frustrations with the rules. Our expectation was that we would see the concerns being captured in the amendments proposed before us. If you look at page seven, other than this so-called amendment on the time taken for the Speaker to communicate changes to leadership, the rest of these amendments are not the product of this House. They have annexed a letter from the head of the Executive, who is the proposer of these particular amendments to the Standing Orders. These are not our amendments. It is evident on page seven that out of the five amendments, only this one has been put cosmetically to try to make it appear that it came from members of the House. Mr. Speaker, Sir, just this afternoon, you have been grappling with certain amendments that you were hoping to see, including the 30-day period that is given to committees to process bills. Sen. Orwoba has expressed frustration that we need to amend the Standing Orders on the sequence of proceedings, so that we can start with Motions and process them. I have also expressed frustration about the length and duration of the Statements Hour. However, none of those amendments have made it there. Finally, we have been told that these amendments are supposed to allow people to ask questions directly to the Cabinet Secretaries (CS), but nothing could be further from"
}