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{
    "id": 239359,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/239359/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 211,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "Mr. Speaker",
    "speaker_title": "",
    "speaker": null,
    "content": "Order, hon. Members! As you will notice, we have a Motion of Adjournment. Before we go to that, may I bring to the attention of the House that the question of attendance in Committees is becoming very worrying. Often, witnesses are called by the Parliamentary Committees, including the watchdog Committees, from all places across the breadth and length of this country. They come from Mombasa, Kisumu and maybe, even Wajir or Mandera. The witnesses travel all the way to Nairobi, come and hang around the corridors of Parliament for the whole day and either the Committee does not acquire a quorum or if it does so, it acquires after an hour. This is a terrible thing. It is giving this House a very bad name. It is annoying Kenyans who travel all the way, respecting your summonses. It is a waste of public funds and individual funds as well. We pay those witnesses or the various departments of Government pay travel and accommodation expenses for those witnesses. This gives Parliament a very bad name. One of the problems that are associated with this problem is that some hon. Members are in four Committees and above. Therefore, they cannot have the time to attend to those Committees. Some hon. Members, even when they are in only one Committee, cannot attend the only one that they are assigned to. We must, as hon. Members, take our work seriously. I now order from the Chair to the various chairpersons of the Departmental Committees and other Committees of the House that a Member who fails to attend three consecutive meetings without permission will be \"deleted\" from that Committee. August 3, 2006 PARLIAMENTARY DEBATES 2605 Secondly, any Committee failing to acquire a quorum within the first half hour will automatically be adjourned and the hon. Members will not be entitled to any allowances. Thirdly, a Member attending a Committee as a matter of technical appearance will not be entitled to any allowances. The Member must sit in that Committee for not less than an hour, if it continues. I hope Members will be serious about this, and I hope we do not annoy Kenyans by calling them from all over the place and subjecting them to waiting, looking at walls. You know, sometimes, we do not have even waiting rooms. They stand in the corridors! So, please, take your work seriously. Please, note that we are the servants and not masters of the Kenyan people. We must obey the people and respect them and respect this House and uphold its integrity. So, with that, I hope all Committees have heard me loud and clear. I also hope the Clerk will look at the HANSARD and implement every direction that I have given, to ensure that this takes effect."
}