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"id": 194041,
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"speaker_name": "Mr. Kipkorir",
"speaker_title": "The Assistant Minister for Justice, National Cohesion and Constitutional Affairs",
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"legal_name": "Luka Kipkorir Kigen",
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"content": " Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir, first and foremost, I would like to thank the Mover for bringing this very important Motion to this House. The Mover and the Seconder of the Motion May 14, 2008 PARLIAMENTARY DEBATES 1019 gave very clear reasons to justify its passing. It is, indeed, true that after the last general elections, and before the formation of the Grand Coalition Government, we were able to hear and see the mood of Kenyans. They wanted a lean and clean Government. I do not wish to dwell on the definition of what word \"lean\" and \"clean\" mean, because the substance of this Motion is for this House to give the Mover the opportunity to bring a Bill to this House. At that point in time, the meaning of \"clean\" and \"lean\" will be addressed effectively. It is in public knowledge that Kenyans, religious leaders and the civil society desire to have a clean and lean Government. Therefore, due to the arguments which have come out in this House today, I want to support this Motion. Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir, from the inception of this Parliament, it has continued to breach the law. We breach the law by commission or omission. This Parliament has omitted to do what it was supposed to do. That is, to establish a law by virtue of the provisions of Section 16 of the Constitution. It should have come up with a law that regulated or limited the size of the Cabinet. That is why the Mover was right when he said that, because of the lack of an appropriate law, there has been arbitrary and uncontrolled establishment of the Executive, or the Cabinet. That has been so because of the failure by Parliament to pass the law. My learned friend, Mr. Olago, went ahead to raise very serious legal interpretation, and commented that the current Government is illegal. Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir, Section 16 of the Constitution, which is the subject of this Motion says:- \"There shall be the offices of the Ministers of the Government of Kenya as may be established by Parliament or subject to any provision made by Parliament or by the President\". The current President of the Republic of Kenya and the previous ones have simply been acting within the law by appointing the Cabinet because Parliament has failed to direct those Presidents as to the number of Ministers they are supposed to appoint. To that extent, I want to submit that, indeed, the current Government is legally in place. I want to refer to Section 24, which should be read together with Section 16 of the Constitution. It says:- \"Subject to this Constitution and any other law---\" Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir, there is no any other law. That is what I think we want to come up with today. The powers of constituting and abolishing offices for the Republic of Kenya, making appointments to any such office and terminating any such appointments shall vest in the President. I, therefore, submit that there has been no breach of the Constitution of the Republic of Kenya. Therefore, the 16 Ministers and 18 Assistant Ministers in 1963, 23 Ministers and 31 Assistant Ministers in 1969, 23 Ministers and 32 Assistant Ministers in 1975, 29 Ministers and 50 Assistant Ministers in 1980 and 24 Ministers and 41 Assistant Ministers in 1984, all these appointments were done in accordance with the provisions of the Constitution. Therefore, the blame squarely lies in this House. It has taken my brother Ethuro 45 years of Independence to open his eyes in 2008. I knew he was in the Ninth Parliament and I think this is his third term in this House. I thank God that his eyes are open now to see that we have been breaching the law. He has given a reason that he has been on this other side and he has not been able, therefore, to move this Motion. Now that hon. Ethuro has moved this Motion, this Motion is very important. This House should not act in vain. It should not make laws and fail to see those laws complied with. Otherwise, if Members of Parliament are the ones who are breaching the law, then how do we, therefore, enforce the law to the public? The Motion has come at the right time. I think what has made this Motion to come forward is in view of the current situation where we have a big Cabinet of 42 Ministers and 52 Assistant Ministers. The timing is also right. I want to submit that this Motion is, indeed, important for this House to consider and pass. 1020 PARLIAMENTARY DEBATES May 14, 2008 Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir, we now have a Grand Coalition Government in place. It has made very serious commitments that within the next 12 months, we are going to have a new Constitution. Hon. Members will be players in that process, whether in the House or outside the House or in our constituencies. Given the 12 months time that we have to have a new Constitution, we are going to look at every section of our Constitution. We are going to repeal some sections and amend some, which we feel are not now consistent with the conditions in our country. Section 16, in my view, is one of those sections which I think will be an issue when the process begins. Therefore, as I support this Motion, I would like to propose to the Mover that the timing is good. He may consider it, so that in the constitutional review process, we can bring the issues together, so that we do not have piece meal amendments of our Constitution from time to time. Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir, I would like to conclude by saying that the Government and, indeed, the Ministry of Justice, National Cohesion and Constitutional Affairs, is committed to having a democratic country. Our vision is very clear; to have a just democratic country. We support this Motion because the objectives behind it are noble. There is no mischief, in my view, and I support it."
}