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{
    "id": 1422721,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/1422721/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 342,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "Ugunja, ODM",
    "speaker_title": "Hon. Opiyo Wandayi",
    "speaker": null,
    "content": " Hon. Speaker, I think we should be a little more patient on this matter which is very important. This is the first time this House, since 2010, is dealing with a Motion for the impeachment of a Cabinet Secretary. It is the first time we are dealing with such a situation. Therefore, I want to plead with you to give us more time. I want to start very quickly from where Hon. Okello left. I do not think it was the intention of the framers of our Constitution, 2010, that a group of seven people would countermand a decision of this House. When we took a vote on this matter last Thursday, a whole 149 members of this House voted overwhelmingly to impeach the Cabinet Secretary, Mithika Linturi. I submit that it was not the intention of the framers of the Constitution when they enacted Article 152(9), read together with Standing Order No. 66(7). Hon. Speaker, I am sure you know and can teach us better. There is danger in this idea of literally interpreting the law. I am sure you know about the Berriman case of 1946 better than I do. A purposive interpretation of the law would lead us to the conclusion that the decision of that Select Committee should have been subjected to validation by the whole House. Having said that, there is a higher moral responsibility on the part of the Cabinet Secretary and the appointing authority following the overwhelming decision of this House last Thursday in a vote of 149 against 36. I do not think this matter should have gone to the Select Committee. In more decent democracies, the moment this House voted 149 against 36 to send Hon. Linturi home, the decent thing he should have done was to resign. Failure to resign, we would have expected the appointing authority to sack him. Those two have not happened. We are back here today to continue from where we left last Thursday. I persuade Hon. Members not to give up regardless of what a minority of seven Members have decided against all the available evidence. They have decided to let the Cabinet Secretary go scott-free. This House must remain firm and assert its authority. Following the vote of last Thursday of 149 against 36, this House will be in its rightful place to resolve not to have any dealings with the Cabinet Secretary, Hon. Mithika Linturi. This House, on behalf of the people of this country, has the sovereign power to decide not to recognise Hon. Mithika Linturi as a Cabinet Secretary in this Government despite the resolution of the minority of seven. The minority of seven has brought the authority of this House to shame and disrepute. They have made us a laughing stock in the eyes of the public. To remedy that anomaly, I would be right to persuade this House to decline the recognition of Hon. Mithika Linturi as the Cabinet Secretary moving forward. We should continue to urge the appointing authority, the 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."
}