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{
    "id": 1382130,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/1382130/?format=api",
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    "speaker_name": "",
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    "content": "Hon. Members, you will recall that when I took the Oath of Office and assumed the role of the Speaker of the National Assembly on Thursday, 8th September 2022, I also solemnly undertook to uphold comity between the two Houses of Parliament and between the National Assembly and other arms of Government. In undertaking to ensure the improvement of bicameral relations between the two Houses, I was cognisant of the unpleasant disputes relating to the processing of legislative business between the Houses. Regrettably, the disputes culminated in a court action that is currently on appeal at the Supreme Court of Kenya. Subsequent to my election, I have consistently engaged the leadership of the House and that of the Senate in discussions to reach an amicable resolution of outstanding matters relating to processing of legislative business between the Houses. I am glad to note that the leadership of Parliament is united in its abhorrence to previous incidents where the Houses have publicly exhibited discord and division while engaging each other on respective mandates of the Houses. I, therefore, wish to inform the House that the leadership of Parliament, comprising the Speakers of both the National Assembly and the Senate and Leaders of the Majority and Minority parties of both the National Assembly and the Senate met on Thursday, 29th February 2024. As part of the agenda, the meeting deliberated on enhancing bicameral relations between the two Houses. The meeting addressed the status of the ongoing litigation between the Houses, noting that the Supreme Court of Kenya granted the Houses an extension of 120 days to engage in out-of-court negotiations and record consent. Further, the leadership of Parliament observed the tremendous progress made in the negotiations and interrogated various options for formalising the processing of legislative business in Parliament. In this regard, the leadership noted that the National Assembly is already seized of the Houses of Parliament (Bicameral Relations) Bill, 2023 (National Assembly Bill No.44 of 2023), which is sponsored by Hon. Samuel Chepkong’a. The Bill was read a First Time on 17th August 2023. For purposes of expeditiously arriving at a legislative solution to govern bicameral matters, the leadership of Parliament adopted the Bill as the lead/compromise Bill on bicameral relations. In addition, the leadership of both Houses of Parliament agreed that the National Assembly would fast- 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"
}