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{
    "id": 1492964,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/1492964/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 282,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "Dagoretti North, ODM",
    "speaker_title": "Hon. Beatrice Elachi",
    "speaker": null,
    "content": " Thank you, Hon. Temporary Speaker. I always thank God that I have been a Senator and a Speaker and I see where the weakness in the Senate is. It is just one. Their roles are so limited that they always want to eat into the roles of the National Assembly. That is the truth of the matter. I was in the first Senate and I know they went to court where some interpretations were made. The key issue is for the two Speakers to sit and agree that when a matter is very grave and touches on both functions of the Senate and the National Assembly, then a joint committee should be established to deal with the matter once and for all. We agreed here to bring cabinet secretaries on the Floor of the House. That is all the Senate needed to have done. It is unfair and unethical for them to call the Cabinet Secretary for the National Treasury, disregard him and even chase him out. That is very wrong. Yet, they know very well that the function for which they have called him is not on the Division of Revenue Bill and not on county monies. They call him on issues they have read in newspapers and all over and require the Cabinet Secretary to substantiate whether it is true or not. That is unfortunate and very wrong. One thing I would wish to tell the Senate - and that I told a Senator I was with somewhere - is that, as a country, we agreed to have a presidential system. I have not seen anywhere in the United States of America where the Senate interferes in any matter of Congress. None! I also told the Senator that it is unfortunate that the Senate interferes in all the matters of the National Assembly and completely disregarding their role. That is why we have a challenge right now with governors. If the Senate was functioning, it would enact a law saying that a county secretary should be recruited by a county public service board so that we know very well we have a substantive county secretary. It should not be done the way governors remove them every six months and hire new ones in acting roles. They have disregarded their role. We need a very clear communication to the effect that if a matter for which the Senate has called a principal secretary or a cabinet secretary does not deal with counties, the cabinet secretary can write a letter telling them that the matter does not concern counties at all. That way, we will have some decorum and stop bashing each other in the media and in meetings. That is why they are just joking with NG-CDF. Today, I told a Senator that he has no business saying that the National Government Constituencies Development Fund (NG-CDF) is a county function. It is not. We were about to go into some serious conflict, but I just told him I want the Senate to respect the National Assembly the way it respects the Senate. Thank you, Hon. Temporary Speaker."
}