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{
    "id": 1493655,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/1493655/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 92,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "Kibwezi West, MCCP",
    "speaker_title": "Hon. Mwengi Mutuse",
    "speaker": null,
    "content": " Thank you, Hon. Temporary Speaker, for giving me the opportunity to contribute on the important issue that has been brought by Hon. Junet Mohamed. In my understanding, the Supreme Court is supposed to balance between the philosophical, technical and political interests of a country. If you look at the historical foundations of the creation of the Supreme Court, right from the United States of America, you will realise that it is supposed to create stability in a country. Therefore, for that particular purpose and historical understanding, allow me to join the rest of the Members of this House in congratulating our Supreme Court Judges for balancing the philosophical, technical and political interests to determine the place of public participation in our governance system. Having said that, and having taken a cursory look at the decision of the Supreme Court, I realise that it laid grounds, factors, and the tests to be relied upon in terms of initiating public participation for legislative work and decisions on policy matters in terms of how those decisions will be processed through the legislative system. Most importantly, it laid grounds for the tests which courts of law will use to determine whether public participation has been applied satisfactorily, both qualitatively and quantitatively. Therefore, the invitation to this House to swiftly enact a law on public participation is most welcome. As my Chairman, Hon. George Gitonga Murugara, has said, in the Departmental Committee on Justice and Legal Affairs, we had begun looking at ways of closing this gap. As the Committee of the House which is involved in matters of justice and law, we were also aware that we cannot continue having a legal lacuna in terms of public participation. As Members have aptly put it, a lot of good legislation for the country has been shot down because of misunderstandings where different judges read from different scripts, as to the place of public participation. Therefore, I will be very supportive when the State finally publishes the public participation law in line with the decision of the Supreme Court. As this House considers the issue of public participation, we may also need to consider the issue of a referendum law. This is because hand-in-hand with public participation is the place of a referendum in our governance system. Therefore, I urge the Leader of the Majority Party to also liaise with the Government so that even as we enact a law on public participation, 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."
}