Entry Instance

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

{
    "id": 1589616,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/1589616/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 152,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "Mr. Erick Muriuki",
    "speaker_title": "",
    "speaker": null,
    "content": ", the court held that it is also a settled law that fraudulent conduct must be distinctly alleged and distinctly proved. It is not allowable to leave fraud to be inferred from the facts. An allegation of forgery is an issue of fraudulent conduct. Hon. Senators, you have been told that it is a preliminary issue whether there was a sitting and whether from that sitting the threshold for impeachment was reached. This issue can only be determined after a conclusive hearing of these proceedings. The Governor's Counsel has stated that they will rely on the affidavits of the Clerk, who is an employee of the County Assembly, to tell you that there was no sitting. Hon. Senators, as a matter of fair hearing, we must then be allowed to test the veracity of those averments by the Clerk under oath through cross-examination. For that reason, this issue cannot form the basis of a preliminary objection. Hon. Senators, from the locus classicus on preliminary objections of Mukisa Biscuit, as was again affirmed in the decision that we have quoted in our submissions of Ali Hassan Joho and another versus Suleiman Said Shabhal, for a preliminary objection to succeed, it must be a pure point of law which is argued on the assumption that all the facts pleaded by the other side are correct. It cannot be erased if any fact has to be ascertained or if what is sought is the exercise of judicial discretion. I would perhaps just amend that we also include quasi- judicial discretion because this House now sits as a quasi-judicial body. Hon. Senators, that issue of whether there was a sitting is at length canvassed in both the County Assembly's documents and the Governor's responses. For that reason, it cannot form part of a preliminary objection. We shall be, of course, adducing evidence to show that there were sittings of the Assembly on those two dates, even though there were attempts to scuttle them. As I conclude my submissions, we shall lead evidence at the opportune time to show that there was vandalism at the offices of the County Assembly and that the said vandalism was orchestrated by the Governor or at his direction. That is the evidence that we shall bring here. 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."
}