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{
    "id": 1280117,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/1280117/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 157,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "Kikuyu, UDA",
    "speaker_title": "Hon. Kimani Ichung’wah",
    "speaker": null,
    "content": " Thank you, Hon. Speaker. Before I read out the Questions, I am in receipt of a letter that was copied to me from the Cabinet Secretary for Sports, Culture and the Arts, Hon. Ababu Namwamba. It is addressed to you and the Speaker of the Senate, Hon. Amason Kingi. I beg your indulgence to read it out to the House because it is a public document. It says: “The attention of our Ministry has been drawn to statements made, respectively, by Hon. Kimani Ichung’wah, Leader of the Majority Party in the National Assembly and Hon. Hon Simon Cherargei, Senator, Nandi County, which purport to cast aspersions on the Ministry of Youth Affairs, Sports and the Arts. Parliament is a hallowed House of record, rules and pre-eminent honour, with well laid Standing Orders backed by age-old established normative customs, usages and traditions. Among the immutable norms of parliamentary practice include non-admissibility of hearsay, not condemning anyone unheard and in their absence. Indeed, these basic rules of natural justice apply to Parliament in recognition of its eminent status, not only as a supreme institution of representation of the will of the people but also as a quasi-judicial organ. Further, Parliament has a formal oversight mechanism through the committee system that ensures all executive actions are checked within established official structures. Private Member’s Questions and Motions as well as summons are part of this oversight architecture. We believe our Ministry is performing optimally in sync with the Government’s bottom-up economic transformation agenda. We are also available and open to robust parliamentary oversight within the established official mechanisms including through the relevant oversight committees of the august House. It is in this context that the Ministry writes to inform you, Hon. Speakers, of our readiness and availability to appear before the august Houses to respond to the specific issues raised by Hon. Kimani Ichung’wah and Senator Samson Cherargei at the earliest opportunity available, as per the Calendar of the House."
}