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{
    "id": 1516704,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/1516704/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 359,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "Sen. M. Kajwang’",
    "speaker_title": "",
    "speaker": {
        "id": 13162,
        "legal_name": "Moses Otieno Kajwang'",
        "slug": "moses-otieno-kajwang"
    },
    "content": "Minority Leaders in the National Assembly are given greater prominence than the Leaders of the Senate. I would like to congratulate Sen. Aaron Cheruiyot for at least managing to make his presence felt but otherwise, if you are dealing with people who are just reading the Constitution the way it is, the letter and not the spirit, even the Leader of the Majority or Minority of the Senate will not be given space or considered when it comes to matters of protocol. If we believe in bicameralism, this House must stand, must protect and defend its interests. I know that there are overriding political considerations. We come from political coalitions, but I will not be the one to dismantle the superior position of the Senate for political purposes and political bonga points. If we want as a Senate to be in a position where we are taken seriously, let us do the things we said in Naivasha. We mandated the hon. Senator for Nyamira County, Sen. Omogeni. He has a constitutional amendment proposal. We said that we were going to prioritise that constitutional amendment proposal. I hope that he has addressed the issue of Article 108. I do not think the drafter of Article 108 was deliberate to leave the Senate out when it came to the definition of leadership of the Houses. Even if it were ruled that the party that is not in government is a majority, the heavens would not fall--- In the United States of America, President Obama rarely had a majority. If you recall history, I think it is said he had a majority for about 79 days. When Senator Kennedy died, unfortunately, he lost that majority. He had to lobby Congress every time he wanted to pass a Bill, be it Obamacare or whatever kind of radical proposals he had. I would be happy if we were in that situation because we would be running away from the tyranny of numbers and the Executive would now be compelled to come to Parliament and convince Parliament to take a position and vote on a matter. It is not the end of the world, it is not overturning the government, it is not kicking the government or the Executive out of office, but it will enhance oversight and accountability. Let me conclude by urging the House and the majority leader to let us go back to the spirit of the year 2014/2015 when he and I joined Parliament. We came in; we found the Senate was united in purpose. We were not united by the politics of Wamunyoro or the politics of those other divisions that you talk about. We were united for the purpose of defending and strengthening these institutions. I do hope that those of us who are going to county governments, like Sen. (Prof.) Tom Ojienda, will leave this Senate stronger and not leave it weaker. We cannot be the Senate that says that whatever happens in the National Assembly shall, by extension, happen to the Senate. We are a bicameral system. We must defend and protect the interests of the Senate. Madam Temporary Speaker, in my community, there is a story about the monkey. At creation, the monkey was not given a tail. When the monkey went around, he saw The electronic version of the Senate Hansard Report is for information purposesonly. A certified version of this Report can be obtained from the Director, Hansard and AudioServices, Senate."
}