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{
    "id": 287367,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/287367/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 191,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "Mr. Deputy Speaker",
    "speaker_title": "",
    "speaker": null,
    "content": "Hon. Members, you may recall that on Thursday the 17th of May 2012, the Minister of State for Provincial Administration and Internal Security, Prof. Saitoti delivered a Ministerial Statement in the House on the appointment of 47 County Commissioners by His Excellency the President. In that Statement Prof. Saitoti informed the House that those appointments were actually redeployment of serving officers, and were meant to facilitate specified national Government functions in the 47 counties in preparation for the restructuring of the Provincial Administration as anticipated in the Constitution. He further stated that the appointments were prompted by the need to ensure co-ordination of service delivery by the Government following an earlier deployment of officers from other Ministries. Hon. Members, the Ministerial Statement by Prof. Saitoti generated intense debate in the House and was punctuated by interjections by several Members seeking clarifications and rising on points of order. Indeed, the vigour with which the debate on the matter was carried out in the House was a pointer to the immense interest the matter has generated in the public domain. The issues raised during debate are genuine and go to the heart of the system of devolved Government designed by the Constitution. Similarly, the need to restructure county governments properly cannot be understated. As a result of the interest and passion the matter generated in the House, the Chair undertook to deliver a communication on the same. Indeed, at the sitting of this House Mr. Chachu reminded the Chair of this undertaking. Hon. Members, some of the issues canvassed before the House had a bearing on the constitutionality of the matter. It thus behooves the Chair to affirm and reiterate at the outset what the Chair has stated on numerous occasions in the past, which is that issues of constitutionality can be raised in the House at any point during debate on any matter, and that it is open to the Chair to make a determination thereon at any time. In matters where unconstitutionality is alleged, I find it necessary to disabuse the view that the Speaker’s direction must be specifically solicited. This would not be the correct reading of Articles 3, 10 and 259 of the Constitution, and the Constitution as a whole, which enjoins all persons to respect, uphold and defend it. It is also important to note, and again the Chair has reiterated this on several occasions, that a determination on constitutionality or otherwise of a matter by the Speaker is not a derogation from the principle of separation of powers, or an infringement on the role of the Judiciary. Such a determination is limited to enabling the House to proceed independently in the discharge of its constitutional functions. What is pertinent is that for the Chair to make a determination on the constitutionality of any matter, the issue must be one of which the House is then appropriately seized as part of the business of the House and the determination must be necessary for the disposal of the matter. As hon. Members are aware, the House has a multiplicity of devices through which it carries out its functions. These include Questions, Statements, Motions, Bills, Select Committees et cetera. Each of these devices has its merits and delimitations. In the present matter, the issue of County Commissioners came to the House through a request for a Ministerial Statement, which Statement the Minister issued. The Member at the Bar can walk in."
}