Entry Instance

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

{
    "id": 158631,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/158631/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 61,
    "type": "other",
    "speaker_name": "",
    "speaker_title": "",
    "speaker": null,
    "content": "The Constitution itself is a superior law. Cap 2 of the Laws of Kenya is a subsidiary legislation. The starting point is the section quoted by Mr. M. Kilonzo which defines what government is. That section says: “government” means the Government of Kenya.” It does not say that the Government means the President of Kenya. If the law wanted to be clear about that, it would have said so, in that Interpretation and General Provisions Act. Indeed, when you sue the Government today, there is another Act of Parliament which provides that you do not sue the President. You sue the Attorney- General on behalf of the Republic of Kenya. So, as a democrat, things do not begin and end with the President. So long as we can realize that fact, we can build a great democracy in this country. That is the first point, which Mr. M. Kilonzo is misleading us on. If you want to enact a Constitution in this country, you do not go to Nairobi City Council and ask the councilors to enact the Constitution. You come to this Parliament. Similarly, when you want to interpret the Constitution, you do not go to an ordinary law. You go to the Constitution itself for purposes of interpretation. Mr. Speaker, Sir, I am glad Mr. M. Kilonzo was part of the team that drafted the National Accord. It was agreed that the Accord shall be read as part of the Constitution. It also said that where there is conflict between the Accord and any part of the Constitution - leave alone that subsidiary legislation that Mr. M. Kilonzo was talking about - the Accord will prevail. For purposes of the constitutional governance and democracy we have today, the Accord is superior to the Constitution. What does the Accord say about the Government? The Government of Kenya as established today is a Coalition Government which is defined in the Constitution. You cannot tell us today that if the Government makes a decision, then that decision has been made by the President of the Republic of Kenya. We know how the Government makes decisions. There was supposed to be a Cabinet meeting today and we did not attend it. Mr. M. Kilonzo should have told us that this morning the Cabinet met and the Government of Kenya decided that So-and-so is the Leader of Government Business. Obviously, he knows, that did not happen, and probably, convening a Cabinet meeting for purposes of nominating who should be the Leader of Government Business will never arise. That kind of meeting will never take place. If it was possible, we could have resolved this in a Cabinet meeting today. However, that was not done!"
}