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{
    "id": 1393605,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/1393605/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 35,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "Sen. Cheruiyot",
    "speaker_title": "The Senate Majority Leader",
    "speaker": {
        "id": 13165,
        "legal_name": "Aaron Kipkirui Cheruiyot",
        "slug": "aaron-cheruiyot"
    },
    "content": " Mr. Speaker, Sir, rather than a point of order, it is to seek your direction on a matter that if not arrested, will soon lead us into a stalemate between us and our colleagues in the National Assembly. Occasionally when I am not in the Chamber, I follow proceedings of what happens in the National Assembly, especially when they are debating Bills that have emanated from the Senate. If I am not wrong, this is the second Bill in this Session that the National Assembly has negated at the Second Reading Stage. Mr. Speaker, Sir, I even said this to our colleagues on the Minority side many times, that, unless a Bill is fatally flawed ab initio, it is an abuse of legislative procedure to negate any Bill at Second Reading. Since I have seen Bills come to this House, and while the context and the overall body of what that Bill seeks to do may not be what Members intend, but because of our very rigorous procedures of law making, including Second Reading and eventually in the Committee of Whole, you clean it up and conform it to provisions of the Constitutions. Therefore, given that this is the second Bill where the House has considered and particularly this Bill, there is a history to it. This Bill has been in the corridors of Parliament for over 10 years. We have considered it severally. In fact, I have lost count of the number of times the Senate has sent this Bill to the National Assembly and it has been returned. Mr. Speaker, Sir, in fact, as much as there is progress to report because previously it used to be left to gather dust in the shelves of the National Assembly, this time they went all the way to Second Reading. Perhaps, you need to establish procedure, Mr. Speaker, between you and your colleague, the Speaker of the National Assembly, on how to consider our Bills. Consequently, this is because we receive many Bills from the National Assembly side as well and there are many things, which for one reason or the other, we hold a different view on how they perceive it. However, I find it to be a smack on the face of the Senate when you negate a Bill at Second Reading and call for mediation. It is an abuse of legislative mandate. As a leader in this House, I would wish, because in a bicameral relation, our main link between us and the National Assembly is you, Mr. Speaker, that you register our displeasure with the leadership of the National Assembly through their Speaker on how they are treating our Bills. Mr. Speaker, Sir, it is my considered view that a Bill should be considered to the final stage, then we can have a proper mediation of how they hold different views on certain provisions. However, to conclude on it at Second Reading is not fair to this House 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 and AudioServices, Senate."
}