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{
"id": 1442682,
"url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/1442682/?format=api",
"text_counter": 90,
"type": "speech",
"speaker_name": "Sen. Osotsi",
"speaker_title": "",
"speaker": {
"id": 13588,
"legal_name": "Osotsi Godfrey Otieno",
"slug": "osotsi-godfrey-otieno"
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"content": "I have seen the Parliamentary norms even within the Commonwealth. It may not be in the Constitution that the Speaker has to be aligned in some manner, but we have the global norms. For us to ensure Parliament is respected, let us have the people who preside over the House who in this case are the Speakers, not be involved in politicking over the weekend. That is the line that I was taking. If for any good reason, I have offended Sen. Wakoli and his Party Leader, I apologise. I am only reflecting on that. Mr. Speaker, Sir, still talking about Parliamentary democracy, when you go to the National Assembly and even here, there are words printed on the door that say; ‘For the Welfare of Society and the Just Government of the People.’ Those words are not there for nothing; they mean something. They talk about the welfare of the society and the just Government of the people. In this case, the society is a country. That should be the phrases that is supposed to guide us in this House. The moment we divert from that and start engaging as political parties or an appendage of the State, we lose it completely. For me, that would be an important thing. That House has done public participation, but public participation means nothing in this country. They did public participation over the Housing Bill, the first Finance Bill 2023 and even the recent Finance Bill 2024. However, the views of Kenyans were not factored in the final report that was presented to the National Assembly. Mr. Speaker, Sir, these are the things that annoy the people and make us look bad. Even as we are reflecting, I hope that we will have a Committee or some people sitting down and discussing how to reset Parliament to be what it was; not what we have now. I started by saying that the problem is here which is why I am addressing Parliament. Now, let me go to the presidency, which is the second problem. The presidency must understand that they are in power and no longer campaigning. We know they gave us promises, some of which have not been implemented. Kenyans are patiently waiting, but do not continue giving promises after another. That every day you wake up, a new promise has come and sometimes, those promises are not consistent. When Kenyans start having doubts in their leader, that when their leader speaks they say that they know he is not going to say the truth, then we have a problem. As Sen. (Dr.) Khalwale said, my view is that the presidency needs to understand that there are many institutions in Government that can talk on behalf of the President. He does not have to talk on everything and appear all over. President Kibaki led this country from his home. I have met three people who were ministers in President Kibaki's Government who tell me that in the 10 years that Kibaki was the President, he only called them twice. He only engaged ministers when they went to the Cabinet or when they were presenting a memo. Outside that, he would not call you easily. So, we have a problem. I hope the President is listening to me. Mr. President, you need to change and the earlier you change, the better. Talk less, appear less in public and manage your promises. That way, we will not have this problem in Kenya. Court orders must be obeyed. I mean when you threaten people and tell us that"
}