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{
    "id": 1537695,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/1537695/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 193,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "Sen. Omogeni",
    "speaker_title": "",
    "speaker": {
        "id": 13219,
        "legal_name": "Erick Okong'o Mogeni",
        "slug": "erick-okongo-mogeni"
    },
    "content": "Mr. Temporary Speaker, Sir, secondly, if you permit me, I would like to inform my good friend Sen. (Dr.) Khalwale that the comment he has made, that there are Clauses in our Constitution that cannot be amended, is not true. The basic structure principle in the Constitution was developed in 1973 by the Supreme Court of India. When the Supreme Court made a finding to the effect that in view of the provisions of Article 368 of the Indian Constitution, there are clauses in the Indian Constitution that cannot be amended by Parliament because they form the basic structure of the democracy of the great Republic of India. This includes that you cannot bring an amendment to interfere with the concept of rule of law, or you cannot bring an amendment to the Indian Constitution that will water down the principle of separation of powers or you cannot bring an amendment as Parliament in India to water down the principle of India being a democratic state. However, in the case of our country Kenya, when this matter went to the Supreme Court and an argument was made that there are Articles in the Constitution that are protected and cannot be touched or amended, that can fit in into that principle of basic structure in our Constitution, the Supreme Court of Kenya overruled that argument and stated that we do not have an Article in our Constitution that is mirrored in the line of the words of Article 368 of the Indian Constitution. So, Sen. (Dr.) Khalwale, the finding of the Supreme Court is that any Article in our Kenyan Constitution can be amended. The only caveat is to look at what is in Articles 255 and 256 and see what can be amended by Parliament without subjecting that amendment to the referendum, or the Clauses that are protected in our Constitution that can never be amended without subjecting that amendment to a referendum. So, those clauses are protected and they cannot have any effect of law unless they go through the referendum. Mr. Temporary Speaker, Sir---"
}