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{
    "id": 1492961,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/1492961/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 279,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "Kilifi North, UDA",
    "speaker_title": "Hon. Owen Baya",
    "speaker": null,
    "content": "The Constitution is supreme. Its supremacy must be respected not only by any other organ, but also the Judiciary. This is because the many things that the Senate is doing are because of court orders and rulings that are made by judges who have over-reached the Constitution. They want to give the powers that are vested in the National Assembly to the Senate. That is why the Senate always runs to court to get interpretations, rulings and judgements that give them authority. The framers of the 2010 Constitution did not even put the position of Leader of the Majority Party in the Senate. If you look at the Constitution and the way the Senate is formed, there are certain things that they do not have, for example, some committees. However, they use the court system to create powers for themselves that are not envisaged in the Constitution. That is why we are where we are today. They use litigation in courts to say the Senate can summon principal secretaries who have nothing to do with devolution. The framers of the Constitution were very clear that the Senate's role is about the management and protection of county governments. We have a lot of issues there today, but the Senate does not address them. They look at work that is cut out for the National Assembly, which is very sad. I met an officer today from Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs). He told me that he had spent a whole day in the Senate being asked questions which he had already answered in the National Assembly. Remember the Ruaraka land case where Parliament acted out of character. This is because the National Assembly looked and studied it, and passed a resolution that the former Cabinet Secretary and all the people were culpable. That was the role of this House. However, a Senator moved the same case and requested to table something in the Senate. I was a Member of the Departmental Committee on Lands. We deliberated on that matter and passed certain resolutions which were adopted by this House. They took the issue to the Senate which absolved those people. So, there were two reports from the same Parliament. The National Assembly and the Senate gave conflicting resolutions. I felt like we were letting down Kenyans and this Constitution which we swore to defend. It is important for the Senate to stick to its mandate. The day it will do that, county governments will work properly. They will be overseen properly. There will be no haemorrhage of money that is currently experienced because the Senate will be active in its role. But because of imperialism – and I do not know whether it is imperialism or the modern kind of imperialism - they ignore and ‘eats’ into the roles of the National Assembly every time. Hon. Temporary Speaker, we must stop misusing the court. The President once said that when one House takes the other one to court, we are missing it. The Senate has taken the National Assembly to court very many times, so that they can get powers and infringe on their roles. The Constitution is very clear on the mandates under Articles 97, 98, 103 and 117. The Speaker of the Senate is a lawyer of good standing. He needs to rein in senators and anything that comes to the Floor of that House. He should not approve something that infringes the mandate of the National Assembly. He is the one who approves the business of the House. It is then taken to the Floor of the Senate and discussed. He needs to rise above the sibling rivalry of these two Houses and say that a certain matter belongs to the National Assembly. When I bring a matter here that touches on county governments, even the Clerks- at-the-Table will tell me it has to be discussed in the Senate. So, the Senate should do the same thing. When a matter is taken by a Member to the Clerk or Hon. Speaker, he should have the moral authority and high standing to say it does not concern county governments thus, it should be taken to the National Assembly. That is the ruling we will require so that we are seamlessly aligned and also to give national government officers time to work. We cannot have a cabinet secretary in the Senate throughout the day and the next day. They even summon principal secretaries. Here, we shy away from summoning principal secretaries. We summon cabinet secretaries. The Senate has 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."
}