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{
    "id": 196539,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/196539/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 65,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "Mr. Githae",
    "speaker_title": "The Assistant Minister, Office of the Deputy Prime Minister and Ministry of the Local Government",
    "speaker": {
        "id": 159,
        "legal_name": "Robinson Njeru Githae",
        "slug": "robinson-githae"
    },
    "content": "Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, if you look at the current Initial Public Offer (IPO) of Safaricom, where Kshs10 billion worth of shares are being sold, assuming that all the investors will purchase the minimum shares, we will be talking about two million shareholders. Sending accounting documents to two million shareholders will be very expensive. I do not know where two million shareholders can meet in this country. I do not know where they would meet. We need to rectify that. Even if they were to meet at the Kenyatta International Conference Centre (KICC), they would not all be accommodated. The KICC cannot accommodate more than 50,000 people. Even if they were to meet in all the stadia in the country, the space would still not be adequate. We need to amend the Companies Act more urgently than the Accountants Act. It is a good piece of legislation because it will empower accountants to mange their affairs. It will also empower accountants to discipline members who become errant, those who involve themselves in unethical April 16, 2008 PARLIAMENTARY DEBATES 501 conduct and corrupt practices. Therefore, to that extent, it is a good piece of legislation. Hon. Members, this is not something which is unheard of. I think the modern trend now is to empower various professional bodies to regulate their own affairs. For instance, the Law Society of Kenya (LSK) was the first professional body to be empowered to manage its affairs. This is basically so because when it was first enacted, all the lawyers and magistrates, at the time, were whites. I think that is why they were given the priority. However, today, other bodies should also be given power and mandate to regulate their own affairs. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, I do not want to go into many details because many hon. Members have talked about the amendments that are required. These amendments are to improve the provisions that are in the current Bill. Therefore, I will not go into details. In conclusion, today, there was some display of indiscipline. I saw an Assistant Minister seeking clarification from a fellow Cabinet colleague. I also saw an Assistant Minister trying to ask a Minister a question. I think we need to be disciplined if the Grand Coalition Government is to last for the next five years. One of the reasons why the NARC dream collapsed was when Ministers started attacking each other in public instead of doing so during Cabinet meetings. So, if this coalition is to last, there must be discipline. No Minister should attack another in public and no Assistant Minister should ever attack a Minister in public. No Assistant Minister should say that his Minister is only good at dancing. That does not augur well. Therefore, we need discipline if the Grand Coalition Government is going to survive. With those few remarks, I support."
}