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"id": 1442445,
"url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/1442445/?format=api",
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"type": "speech",
"speaker_name": "Sen. Omogeni",
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"speaker": {
"id": 13219,
"legal_name": "Erick Okong'o Mogeni",
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"content": "continue being entrenched. If that is the case, then we are not addressing the issues that are facing this country. The Finance Bill has triggered the challenges that we are facing as a country. Why can we not demand, as a Senate, that it be brought to us before it is assented to by the President? I want to draw the attention of the House, that there is nothing in this Constitution that stops this House from considering the Finance Bill as long as it has provisions that affect functions of county governments. The Constitution only has a restriction on the originating House when it comes to Money Bills. It says Money Bills may originate from the National Assembly, but it does not say that they will not be considered by the Senate. If the Government chose to introduce Bills that touch on functions of counties in the Finance Bill, then the best that we should do, as a House, is to demand that that Bill comes to the Senate for consideration before it is assented to by the President. Secondly, as we adjourn, I condemn and do not support destruction of property. However, I equally denounce the use of live bullets by our police officers on demonstrators. I watched the Cable News Network (CNN) this morning and tried to tick the minutes where Kenya was repeatedly accorded more than an hour. The focus was that the Kenyan police used live bullets to kill innocent, unarmed demonstrators not at Moi Avenue or University Way, but within the Precincts of Parliament. I understand it is wrong to invade the institution of Parliament, but as a House, do we support the use of live bullets on demonstrators? Sen. Chute has told us this morning and we all know that there are rubber bullets. We know it. There are those “ rungus ” too. I do not know how we call them in English, but they can be used to quell demonstrations. Mr. Speaker, Sir, should we, as an independent country, which gained independence 62 years ago, open live bullets on demonstrators? What is the difference between Kenya today and the apartheid in South Africa? We watched the Sarafina movie that was shot in South Africa where the police during apartheid were opening fire on black South Africans who were fighting for the independence of their country. What is the difference with what we witnessed yesterday? When these pictures are being shown in CNN, what picture are we portraying for our nation? I witnessed during the unfortunate incidents-which again I do not support- that happened in Washington DC, when Trump led demonstrators to invade Congress, nobody approved. I do not approve it up to today. It was the wrong thing to do, but there was restraint from the police force in the United States of America (USA) and nobody was shot dead. In fact, the person who lost his life instead was a police officer, who in extreme restraint, sustained fatal injuries. However, in this country yesterday, we opened fire on young people. The statistics have it that we lost five lives, but it could be more. As a House, instead of adjourning, we need to know who was in command of those police officers. Can you imagine if the youth turned on hon. Sen. Chute here and killed him yesterday? What could have happened? Mr. Speaker, Sir, Chapter 14 of the Constitution has standards that should be applied by our police force. We also have structures. Under Article 145, there is only 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."
}