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{
    "id": 1551112,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/1551112/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 434,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "Suna East, ODM",
    "speaker_title": "Hon. Junet Mohamed",
    "speaker": null,
    "content": "I stand to oppose this Motion. Why do I say so? The issues we are canvassing here this afternoon have been longstanding since 2013 when we became a bicameral Parliament. We have been having these issues. I remember I was in the Parliament that was grappling with the idea of whether to seek opinion from the Attorney-General or scholars on what the mandate of the two Houses were. I am now very happy because the Supreme Court of Kenya has pronounced itself on this matter. These matters have been very clear from the word go. Anybody who could read the Constitution could understand Articles 94, 95 and 96. That is why, under the initiative of Hon. Chepkonga, this House decided to initiate a Bill that can at least demarcate the functions of the two Houses. However, apparently, the Senate, in their own wisdom or lack of it, decided to return the Bill with outrageous amendments that negate the whole purpose of the Bill. I remember vividly one time when Senators moved to court, dancing on the road. We were sitting here watching them on television. They were literally dancing. Hon. Naomi Waqo, the Deputy Whip of the Majority Party, says she was a Member of that Senate. They took 24 Bills that we passed in this House, danced on the road like people who had won an election or something, and went to court with the sole purpose and intention of demonising, intimidating and making the National Assembly look bad. Yet we knew very well, and we had clarity of mind, that the Senate had no role in those Bills. In the end, we got vindicated the other week when the Supreme Court made their ruling. Public resources were wasted in the litigation process. The functions of each Houses are now very clear, like the difference between day and night. Debate on the functions of the Senate and the National Assembly must end this afternoon. Going forward, the Senate must know that the Supreme Court has clarified what they are supposed to do. We had reached a level in this bicameral Parliament where the Senate was demanding that taxation, budgetary and money Bills must be referred to the Senate before they become Acts of Parliament. The Supreme Court has ruled with clarity that the Senate of the Republic of Kenya has completely no role in money Bills. They can only deal with the money county governments share among themselves through the County Revenue Allocation Bill. Anybody who read the Constitution properly knew very well that the Senate had no role at all in money Bills. However, they decided on their own volition to take the matter to court. First, they took it to the High Court, they lost. They went to the Court of Appeal, they lost. They went to the Supreme Court, and it has concluded the matter with finality. The Senate is supposed to deal with matters concerning counties while the National Assembly is supposed to deal with issues that concern constituencies. When the Constitution is very clear and you have been told you are supposed to deal with matters concerning counties, why do you want to infringe on other people’s work? If you feel that the Senate has no much work to do, in the next election contest in a constituency and come to the National Assembly to do a lot of work. Oversight of national organs is the mandate of the National Assembly. I see the Senate summoning the Kenya Pipeline Company and the Kenya Power Company. If I was the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of that organisation, I would not appear before the Senate. You can send me as many summons as you want. We have to adhere to the Constitution. The Constitution has demarcated the boundaries. The Senate is supposed to deal with matters concerning the counties. Now that we have a Supreme Court judgment, I do not know what they are going to do. Whether the Senate has powers to annul the judgment of the Supreme Court, we will wait to see. It looks like the Senate has powers to do anything. They can even annul a judgment of a court."
}