Entry Instance

HTTP 200 OK
Allow: GET, PUT, PATCH, DELETE, HEAD, OPTIONS
Content-Type: application/json
Vary: Accept

{
    "id": 1526460,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/1526460/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 509,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "Molo, UDA",
    "speaker_title": "Hon. Kuria Kimani",
    "speaker": null,
    "content": "government. Therefore, entrenching the Office of the Leader of the Opposition in the Constitution undermines that same Constitution. We need to ask whether the Leader of the Opposition will become a member of the Executive. If the answer is in the affirmative, that arrangement will undermine the ability of the holder of that office to oversee the government. The framers of our Constitution were very clear when they said that there needs to be the Majority Party that forms the government side and the Minority Party that oversees the government. There is nothing that stops any oversight committee and any committee of Parliament from overseeing any particular decision that is made. We have seen Members and different committees overseeing the Executive as they should. Therefore, entrenching the office of the Leader of the Opposition in the Constitution is unnecessary. I also note that the NADCO Report provides for the resignation of a Member of Parliament when they are deregistered from a political party. That means that if they are deregistered by their political parties, they automatically lose their seats. That recommendation undermines our Constitution because the power of the people to elect their representatives is over and above that of a political party. We also know that political parties are not necessarily very democratic. Some party mandarins could just have beef with you and decide to deregister you from the political party so that you lose your seat. We congratulate the ODM party that has existed for over 20 years. I hope the UDA party will follow suit and exist for very many years. In Kenyan politics, people change their political parties all the time. Today one could be in TNA, but on another day, he could be in another political party. The provision of someone losing their seat because of being deregistered by a political party is very unfair. Therefore, I commend the Committee for rejecting that particular proposal in the NADCO Report. On the issue of gender, it is important to point out that the NADCO Report proposed that within 30 days of the enactment of the Act, the two-thirds gender principle would have to be implemented. The Committee does not undermine the need to have women leadership or the current provisions of having two-thirds gender principle, as per our Constitution. However, they oppose the proposal to have the requirement met within 30 days because that timeframe is not practicable. Further, they propose that all the parties involved put in place structures that will make sure we have more women leaders being elected in the next general election. Hon. Temporary Speaker, I support what Hon. Millie said…"
}