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"id": 193970,
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"speaker_name": "Mr. Ethuro",
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"legal_name": "Ekwee David Ethuro",
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"content": "Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir, I beg to move the following Motion:- THAT, aware that the public mood of Kenyans is to have a lean and clean Cabinet that reflects its GDP; noting that Section 16(1) of the Constitution of Kenya provides that \"There shall be such offices of the Minister of the Government of Kenya as may be established by Parliament\"; aware that since the inception of the Republic of Kenya, Parliament has not established such offices of the Minister of the Government of Kenya, resulting in the arbitrary and the uncontrolled establishment of excess Ministries; this House do grant leave to introduce a Bill for an Act of Parliament to create offices of Minister of the Government of Kenya and to provide for the requirements for appointment and for related matters. Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir, this is a historical moment. The Tenth Parliament must go into the annals of history as a reformist Parliament that has taken its duties and obligations very seriously. Since Independence, there has been failure on the part of Parliament to provide for a law that will make sure that a President is bound by the number and portfolios of the offices of the Minister of the Government of Kenya. This is a constitutional provision and we are asking the House to discharge its obligations under the Constitution. This Motion calls upon the House to rise to the occasion; an occasion where we can look at what is required. We are just recovering from post election violence, whose eminent solution was to craft a Grand Coalition Government. Section 17 provides for the functions of the Cabinet. It says that the functions of the Government shall be to aid and advise the President. You do not need a classroom or an entire assembly to advise you. You just need a few advisers. Suggestions of numbers have been given on the ideal Cabinet to have. Mine is to make a recommendation. This House will finally decide in its collective wisdom on the number that is appropriate to be appointed to the offices of the Ministers of the Government of Kenya. Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir, proposals have been made that we should have between 20 and 24 Ministers. Hon. Members will recall that at the height of negotiations, each parliamentary group decided to use the number of Ministers for political bargaining. The numbers were ranging between 38 to 44 Ministers. These negotiations would not have been necessary if these numbers had been previously determined. If you look at the current scenario, you will see that we have about 42 Ministers. This Motion is not a statement against the Grand Coalition Government. Being transitory in nature, one would make an argument about this. However, if the law had been made very clear, then this transitory arrangement would not be valid. If you look at Uganda which is a country that does not have the political and cultural richness we have, it has already legislated in its Constitution how many Ministers the President can appoint. It has indicated that Uganda shall have 21 Ministers. May 14, 2008 PARLIAMENTARY DEBATES 1003 Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir, we have borrowed from the commonwealth practice in terms of our democracy. The mother of all parliaments, the United Kingdom, has only 22 Ministers. Even across the Atlantic, the great USA has 17 Ministers. The largest and most populated African country, Nigeria, has only 19 Ministers. Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir, these are just some examples to demonstrate that there is no basis for us to have a bloated Cabinet. I wish Ms. Karua was here. I hope the Chief Whip is whipping Ministers too. Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir, when we were debating the issue of the election of members to the East African Legislative Assembly (EALA) by the Kenyan Parliament, there was an altercation between her and the former Member for Keiyo South, Mr. Biwott, to the extent that the Government had already appointed people to the Assembly, including some Members who were from a bloated Government. So she understands this concept very well. She has used it in this House before. I, therefore, do not expect any resistance from that side. If anything, I would expect the Government to embrace this. It is for their own good; so, the rest of us who are seeking positions cannot be pushing them too hard. They will be able to demonstrate that their hands are tied. They will have only particular numbers. Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir, when you look at what obtains--- Whenever you have a large Cabinet it means decisions cannot be made easily. As you have just witnessed, our Ministers are speaking at cross-purposes. It is just the sheer size. The large numbers are not manageable! We are talking about Government expenditure that is hitting the roof. Yesterday, we passed the Appropriation Bill. The week before, we had the Supplementary Estimates. It was very clear from the Minister for Finance that an occasion has arisen for Government expenditure to be increased. We hope that when we finally bring the Bill, we will be able to rationalise the Ministries. Part of the problem within the Cabinet are turf wars about who should be responsible for what docket. This leads to serious wastage of public time and resources. Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir, we also hope that when this House finally grants us the opportunity to bring this Bill, we shall not only be looking at a lean and clean Cabinet, but will also be considering issues of competence. There is no reason to have an eminent professor to look around maternity wards when he should be busy planning for us."
}