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"speaker_name": "Mr. Abdikadir",
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"legal_name": "Abdikadir Hussein Mohamed",
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"content": "Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir, we are only four and a half months away from the elections. I would like to remind hon. Members that during that time, we had a lot of interaction with our constituents. Since then, it is only one month that we have been in this House. You will remember that we came here on 15th February, 2008 to be sworn-in, after which we adjourned. Again, we adjourned later on. It is for only one month that we have been working. Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir, in a typical week, Parliament sits for two man days. We sit for a half day on Tuesdays, a full day on Wednesdays and half a day on Thursdays. So, if we are to combine the two half days, essentially we say for two days, or better still, two woman days--- So, out of a seven-day week, Parliament sits for two days. We ought to have a very crowded legislative agenda. We promise this country a new Constitution in 12 months' time. We are in the fifth month of those 12 months, but the process has not commenced. Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir, His Excellency the President did put on the legislative agenda of this Session, very crucial Bills to be transacted amongst which are those on ethnicity and reconciliation, and land reform. We have a lot of work on our plate. Come Budget Day, from mid- June until October, the Budget business will take priority. So, we will go up to October before we can transact all the Bills intended for dealing with the matters raised by the President in his Address to the House at the beginning of this Session. For those reasons, this House cannot afford to adjourn. This Adjournment Motion gives three reasons as to why Parliament needs to reform: The first one, which has been very eloquently put forward by my brother, Mr. C. Kilonzo, is that we need to control our timetable. Parliament really needs to be in charge of its timetable. Yesterday afternoon, and this morning, we came here transacting business as usual. We were not aware that Parliament would be sent home this afternoon. It does not augur well for Members of Parliament not to be in charge of their diary. It is not proper that the Government can come here with a Motion, any time, and say: \"You go home\", and that the President can prorogue Parliament at his pleasure. Parliament ought to have the ability to control its calender. Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir, the second one is the timing. This House needs to sit, when in Session, for more than two man days per week. It should be able to sit for longer than that. Thirdly, we ought to have more representation by Back-benchers in the House Business Committee. The Membership of the House Business Committee is, probably 90 per cent Cabinet Ministers. There are only two Back-benchers in the House Business Committee. I stand to be corrected, if I am wrong. That does not say a lot about the balance of power in Parliament. This is the Parliament, and not the Executive. The Members of the Cabinet have the Executive to themselves. Surely, Parliament should be for Members of Parliament. The Executive should not over-crowd Parliament. So, for those reasons, it is very crucial that we defeat this Motion. I have heard about the issue of traditions. In my earlier life, I was an officer of the High Court of Kenya. The Judiciary has the tradition of going on a summer holiday every year, in August. During the colonial time, you would understand why colonial officers wanted to go back to England during that time - to go and enjoy summer with their families and friends. In Kenya, we are in summer throughout. In fact, in my constituency, we have too much summer. We have too much sunlight. So, one wonders why the Judiciary should be sticking to the tradition of going for a summer recess every year when it has a heavy backlog of cases. It is exactly the same with Parliament. Why should we be going for recess because it is traditional to do so prior to the Budget Day? Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir, finally, on the issue of forming a Grand Coalition Opposition, even though the matter does not concern this Motion, we have heard a lot of hon. Members talk 1066 PARLIAMENTARY DEBATES May 14, 2008 about it. It should not be banded around purely because of politics. We understand that the law, as it is right now, does not accommodate a Grand Coalition Opposition. However, the law also recognizes the Opposition. In fact, quite a number of statutes governing the operation of Parliament require the action, or representation, of the Opposition. Quite a number of the Standing Orders require the participation of Members of the Opposition, especially in the Committees, et cetera . Lack of Official Opposition in this House brings into question the legality of some of our Committees, particularly where the law requires that the Chairman of a Committee should be from the Opposition, or that a certain number of the Membership of a Committee should be from the Opposition. What will be the legality of the Reports that will be tabled by Committees which are not properly constituted by law? These are clear issues which need to be discussed. They ought to have been discussed when we were discussing the National Accord and Reconciliation Bill. It was an oversight. But does it mean that we should not refer to them, purely for the proper operations of Parliament and the legality of its work? With those remarks, I oppose the Motion."
}