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{
    "id": 1458119,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/1458119/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 312,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "Kikuyu, UDA",
    "speaker_title": "Hon. Kimani Ichung’wah",
    "speaker": null,
    "content": " Thank you, Hon. Deputy Speaker. I was saying that because we made a choice, we have to live with the consequences. We chose to forego part of the revenue-raising measures in this financial year. Therefore, the consequences are some of the losses that we have seen in terms of the budgetary allocation that we had which we have had to cut back to finance our Budget within the resources that will be available. Also Hon. Deputy Speaker, given today's Court of Appeal judgement nullifying the Finance Act of 2023, it is also likely that we will be here again for further cuts. This is because the Government of Kenya has no other means of generating revenue other than through taxation. Indeed, there is part of the United States of America that says there is no taxation without representation. It is the State of Washington DC. The reverse is also true: there can never be representation without taxation. That is a fact of life that we have to live with. It is shocking Hon. Deputy Speaker; I am not here to dissect the ruling of the Court of Appeal today by the three Hon. Judges. What the courts have told us today is an affront not only to our democracy but to the constitutional order. The court ruled that all amendments, including those made to the Supplementary Appropriation Bill, must undergo public participation again. This means that any changes resulting from public participation must be presented to the people, again, for further public input. This raises the question of whether all Acts of Parliament passed since 2010 are unconstitutional, as every Act has been amended during the Committee of the whole House stage without going back to the people for public participation. With all due respect to the learned Judges in the Court of Appeal, this judgement is a fallacy. However, as learned as the Judges are, we must start asking ourselves what kind of governance structure we have in this country. Is it a constitutional democracy? Hon. T. J Kajwang is calling it “judicial dictatorship.” If the Judiciary fails to guard the Constitution, then we must become the guardians of our Constitution. Parliament is the law-making body in the country and if the judges in the Judiciary desire to be the lawmakers, they have the option of resigning and vying for parliamentary seats. We cannot have a situation where the Judiciary wants to make laws from the bench. This has never happened in any democracy in the world. Last week, the outgoing President of the United States, Joe Biden, faced similar problems with the Supreme Court. This era of judicial activism and dictatorship must come to an end."
}