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{
    "id": 146592,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/146592/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 544,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "Mr. Midiwo",
    "speaker_title": "",
    "speaker": {
        "id": 184,
        "legal_name": "Washington Jakoyo Midiwo",
        "slug": "jakoyo-midiwo"
    },
    "content": "Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, I stand to second the list as read by my co-whip. I will say very little because as you know, it has been many days as we haggled over this. When we finally agreed, there is a lot of relief. I want to ask colleagues that you may not be very happy but for me, I am happy. We had to give and take. Sometimes back, we agreed that to elevate the status of hon. Members who are chairmen of Committees, that those who will be elected will give up membership in all the other Committees so that people with more time can serve in the rest of the other Committees. We reached that conclusion after looking at the attendance roster. Sometimes, the chairpersons would get very busy. For example, I know Dr. Khalwale did a very good job as the Chairman of Public Accounts Committee but because of the amount of work, he could not attend the other Committees. He appeared once during the election of the chair. Hon. Members will have to give and take. I saw that the media was carrying it negatively but I do not think we could have done it otherwise. There are also others who insist that they want to be in very many busy committees. I want to plead with you, given that a lot of work is now going to be done by committees, as the chairpersons resign from other Committees, we would also call upon other hon. Members who are in many powerful Committees to give up some so that everybody can serve equal-strength Committees. I think hon. Members owe that to each other. Let us do that so that we can move our country forward. My colleague and I have spent a lot of time. The Standing Orders now have accommodated the position of the vice chair. So, in the spirit of give and take, it would only be fair that we use the position of the chair and the vice chair to trade off, so that the elections go smoothly. I hope hon. Members will be willing to do that, so that there is no much acrimony. Lastly, I want to plead with my colleagues who are in Committees--- We have had a bad experience. In fact, ODM was insisting that we take all the Committees because of the fear that Committees are being misused by hon. Members. Chairmen of Committees were using them for political reasons. We want to plead with you to use the Committees for what they are meant for. I say this because there is nothing in the conclusion that is in the body. In other words, you plug the conclusions away from your investigations. That, to me, is demeaning to the dignity of this House. I think hon. Members can do better for our country. We need to just accept that as elected legislators, we need not use taxpayers’ money in a way that just irritates the whole process. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, I want to end by pointing out that the Standing Orders now say that any hon. Member who misses Committee Sittings for four consecutive times will automatically be struck off the Committee. So, we expect co- operation from hon. Members who would not want to be frequent in Committees so that when we strike you off, it is not us but the law and the rules of the House. It is very important to do that so that we have this right for posterity. With those few remarks, I beg to second."
}