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{
"id": 1417994,
"url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/1417994/?format=api",
"text_counter": 52,
"type": "speech",
"speaker_name": "Kikuyu, UDA",
"speaker_title": "Hon. Kimani Ichung’wah",
"speaker": null,
"content": "Secondly, we normally send these notices to cabinet secretaries, at least, a week before. This Cabinet meeting, as much as the letter says was an abrupt one, was only sent yesterday. So, may it be known to all cabinet secretaries - and not only to Hon. Moses Kuria - that appearance before the House on Wednesday afternoons once called, is not optional. You must appear. Whether there is a Cabinet meeting or not, you must be in the House. Secondly, we cannot have principal secretaries writing to us. If the cabinet secretary is the one who has been invited, it must be him or her who should be writing to the House to say he is unavailable for whatever reason. And that has been the trend with all other cabinet secretaries. Why Hon. Moses Kuria decided to have his Permanent Secretary (PS), Amos Gathecha, to send this letter is unknown and whether he was in town. If he was, and was meant to appear for the Cabinet meeting this morning, he should have also been in town to do a letter addressed to the Speaker, giving his reasons and excuses for not appearing before the House. I, therefore, would want it to be on record that the House shall not condone any cabinet secretary using any manner of excuse not to appear before the House to answer to Questions, and respond to Statements to the people of Kenya as presented to them by the peoples’ representatives. Lastly, let me take this opportunity now that I have it, to say that in the House Business Committee (HBC) last week, we deliberated on the question of giving priority to Private Members’ Bills which are usually given on Wednesday mornings and, at times, after the cabinet secretaries leave in the evening as well as committee reports. It was deliberated that we allow that time to be utilised to consider either committee reports or Private Members’ Bills. If Members can look at this Afternoon’s Order Paper, it has a lot of committee business. I would plead with Members and especially those who have a penchant for raising points of orders at specific times in the evening, to please bear with the committees so that we may be able to transact all these committee reports. It is only on Wednesdays that we can transact many of these businesses. And now that the Cabinet Secretary is not there this afternoon, let us take time to consider all these committee reports and process, as much as we can, the business from the committees. Hon. Deputy Speaker, you are the Chairperson of the Liaison Committee, and you summoned me to the Committee last week on this particular issue after chairpersons of committees raised concerns that the House Business Committee (HBC) was not prioritising committee reports. Therefore, any chairperson who has any business lined up here, please, be available throughout the afternoon so that even those who are used to raising points of orders on quorum, would not have any room to do so. There would be enough chairpersons in the House to provide quorum so that we are able to transact all the committee reports that are before us, and finish with them today and hopefully, where we reach today, we can endeavour to find time tomorrow and sometimes next week, to process all the committee reports that are ready. Hon. Deputy Speaker, I believe that you being the Chairperson of the Liaison Committee, you will appreciate that HBC has, indeed, done justice to the request that was made to me to take to the HBC. Thank you."
}