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{
    "id": 1227135,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/1227135/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 287,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "Sen. Mungatana, MGH",
    "speaker_title": "",
    "speaker": null,
    "content": "Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir, I stand to support the Motion by the Senate Majority Leader. I will state two points that my colleagues have maybe forgotten. I associate myself with all those colleagues, hon. Members, who have spoken before me in support of this Motion. We forget that Cabinet Secretaries (CSs) are State officers and are covered under Chapter Six of the Constitution on integrity. The problem with most of us is that when we speak about Chapter Six, we call it the Integrity Chapter yet we have never read it. I encourage our colleagues who are in doubt as to the utility of this particular Motion, that it is an expression of Chapter Six, at its best, on integrity and leadership. Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir, Article 73 of the Constitution requires that every State officer who has taken an oath such as a CS, are supposed to exercise the responsibility they have been given as a service to the people and not to rule over people. When those CSs come here, it will be a good reminder to them that they are not supposed to rule over the people but to serve them. We have had CSs who forgot that appointing authorities including the Deputy President (DP), was senior to them. The CSs in the immediate past administration carried themselves in a manner that suggested that they were more superior than, not only ordinary citizens, Members of Parliament (MPs) but also senior members of the Executive. Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir, these are the people you cannot handle in those Committees. This is because they write letters, come when they want, do what they like and ignore summons and nothing happened to them. It will not be the same here when we meet with them face-to-face in the plenary, in the glare of the eyes of Kenyan people. It will remind the CSs that they took an oath to serve the people of this country. The CSs of the past administration will be watching and seeing what a CS is supposed to do. We will have CSs who know facts of their Ministries and not those people who just depend on support staff to answer even trivial questions. We will have people who study the mandate of their Ministries and are able to answer follow-up questions because they have studied their mandate and are familiar with the outputs and requirements of the departments they head. Another reason to support this Motion is that it is actuating the constitutional requirement under Article 35 that access to information held by the State must be granted to every citizen. Access to Information Act is there but this will be the real access to information. When those State officers come here, they will not plead about secret information. They will be required to give proper and satisfactory answers to all the questions that will be put before them. Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir, Kenyans will be watching to see the CSs who deserve to hold these offices. This will be the area where the appointing authority, His Excellency the President, will also see the CS who is ready to work as a servant to the people. This will be the place, where all Kenyans, including the appointing authority and fellow CSs will be watching to see who is sleeping on the job, always travelling abroad,"
}