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{
    "id": 1267866,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/1267866/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 81,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "Sen. Oketch Gicheru",
    "speaker_title": "",
    "speaker": null,
    "content": "If you read Article 153(1) it states that: “A decision by the Cabinet shall be in writing.” Article 153(2) states that: “Cabinet Secretaries are accountable individually, and collectively, to the President for the exercise of their powers and the performance of their functions.” Mr. Speaker, Sir, now that the Standing Orders of this House have been amended for them to appear, in the event that they do not, does it mean that through your Chair, the Senate will write to the President to launch a complaint? If this House writes to the President to launch a complaint, what becomes the accountability framework for the Executive vis-à-vis the Parliament? The moment we start exchanging with the Executive, particularly the President on the issue of Cabinet Secretaries not appearing before this House, we will be interfering with the Constitution. Secondly, the Constitution says that a Cabinet Secretary shall attend. Remember, accountability is provided for, first, in terms providing documents in writing and, secondly, where they are supposed to attend. Regarding attendance, the Constitution says that a Cabinet Secretary shall appear before a committee of the National Assembly or the Senate when required by the committee to answer any questions concerning a matter for which the Cabinet Secretary is responsible. With regards to provision of documents, if you read Article 153(4), that is where they should provide us with documents in writing. So, there is a lacuna that we have created with our Standing Orders. That is dangerous and exposes us. Even if you were to impose something like a fine that some of my colleagues are proposing, on what basis does a Cabinet Secretary honour that kind of fine? If they go to court, I can assure you the court will stick to the interpretation of the Constitution. I can assure you that the court will stick to the interpretation of what the accountability lab and framework for Cabinet Secretaries as required in the Constitution. I appreciate that this is a dilemma we are dealing with as a House. Mr. Speaker, Sir, you must be respected as well as we. Whether informally or formally, I plead that this needs to have a higher conversation than just the National Assembly. This is because we are the House that has some sense of stability in terms of representation. As a Senate, we hold a majoritarian representation given that all the constituencies in our counties end up giving us that power to help this House think through this decision at a higher level. I appreciate that the Majority side had decided that we adjust our Standing Orders and allow Cabinet Secretaries in. However, we are going to face a lot of dilemmas going forward. This is just an introduction to the dilemmas because some of them individually - as the Commission has said - will make sure they are protected by the Constitution and evade punishment by this House for not appearing before it, but in committees. I urge if it suits this House to allow ourselves to have a bipartisan conversation. Let us higher level to ensure we keep the Cabinet more accountable to us, but within the frameworks of the Constitution. Even if it is a hard choice, we have to make as a country and amend the Constitution then let us do it. The electronic version of the Senate Hansard Report is for information purposesonly. A certified version of this Report can be obtained from the Director, Hansard Services,Senate."
}