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{
    "id": 1492934,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/1492934/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 252,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "Molo, UDA",
    "speaker_title": "Hon. Kuria Kimani",
    "speaker": null,
    "content": " Thank you, Hon. Temporary Speaker. On the converse, Article 95 of the Constitution mandates the National Assembly to do the following: 1. The National Assembly represents the people of the constituencies and special interests in the National Assembly. 2. The National Assembly deliberates on and resolves issues of concern to the people. 3. The National Assembly enacts legislation in accordance with Part 4 of this Chapter. 4. The National Assembly— (a) determines the allocation of national revenue between the levels of government, as provided in Part 4 of Chapter Twelve; (b) appropriates funds for expenditure by the national government and other national State organs; and, (c) exercises oversight over national revenue and its expenditure. 5. The National Assembly— (a) reviews the conduct in office of the President, the Deputy President and other State officers and initiates the process of removing them from office; and, (b) exercises oversight of State organs. 6. The National Assembly approves declarations of war and extensions of states of emergency. When you read the provisions of Articles 95 and 96 of our Constitution, they clearly demarcate the different roles of the Senate and the National Assembly. However, in the past two years, as Chairpersons of Departmental Committees - and I speak with authority as the Chair of the Departmental Committee on Finance and National Planning - we have found it difficult to carry out our oversight role with Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs) and Semi-Autonomous Government Agencies (SAGAs) within our Ministries. The Senate committees are inviting and summoning and, to an extent, fining very senior officers in the Executive on matters that are not necessarily the mandate of the Senate. The Senate should be busy overseeing the use of funds by county governments and making sure that devolution works. This morning, we found all the senior officers of a key national agency sitting in a corridor at the Bunge Tower for more than two hours, waiting to be ushered into a meeting of the Information Communication Technology Committee of the Senate. The matter that the Senate Standing Committee on Information, Communication invited those officers on has nothing to do with the role of the Senate. We have continuously seen members of the Executive, including Cabinet Secretaries and Principal Secretaries, spend so much time before those Committees that they hardly have any time to carry out their roles as implementing agencies in their Ministries, or to attend to invitations that are done by the Departmental Committees of the National Assembly who are the overseers of those particular agencies. Therefore, I invite your guidance and communication from the Chair on to what extent should Senate Committees invite officers from the national Government, how often, and on what matters. If, for example, they need the technical experience or expertise of some of those officers, then they should allow technical officers in those Ministries and State agencies to attend those meetings. To require the Cabinet Secretary or Principal Secretary for the National Treasury to attend a whole day’s meeting on a matter that relates to an advisory on integration 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."
}