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{
    "id": 287834,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/287834/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 259,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "Prof. Muigai",
    "speaker_title": "The Attorney-General",
    "speaker": {
        "id": 408,
        "legal_name": "Githu Muigai",
        "slug": "githu-muigai"
    },
    "content": "Mr. Speaker, Sir, I want, first, with your permission, to thank my learned senior and friend, hon. James Orengo, for having agreed to move this Bill while I was away on Government business. I know that he must have done so with his usual erudite eloquence, and I thank him. I also want to thank hon. Mbadi because he has raised, as he was entitled to do, issues about the constitutionality, legality and propriety of certain proposed amendments. If I was a man of greater influence, I think the hon. Member has qualified for the award of the Degree of Doctor of Laws honoris causa, for his contribution to Constitutional debate in this House. I want to assure hon. Mbadi that the issues he raised and, indeed, the issues that were raised by other Members of this august House, have been considered. The issues raised by the Rt. hon. Prime Minister as well as those raised by the Salaries and Remuneration Commission have also been considered. Mr. Speaker, Sir, we intend to proceed with this Bill, subject to strict adherence to the Constitution and law. We shall not invite this House to deliberate on a Bill in any manner inconsistent with the Constitution, laws and Standing Orders of this House. So, I am happy to be able to assure the hon. Members that this Bill, when committed to the Justice and Legal Affairs Committee for consideration and back to the Committee of the House, the issues of constitutionality and legality will be given very special attention. Mr. Speaker, Sir, having said that, I want to very briefly confirm to the hon. Members that the amendments contained in The Statute Law (Miscellaneous Amendments) Bill originate from individual Ministries, Government departments and Commissions. Although the Attorney-General assumes full responsibility for the drafting of the proposals and nature in which they are presented, the policy decisions behind the proposed amendments belong squarely with the departments and Ministries that proposed them. I say this because I have read widely in the media allegations that the Attorney General wants personally to achieve this, the other or something else. The Attorney- General only wants to do his constitutional role, which is to ensure, for example, that where the Judiciary has said that the name and nomenclature referring to the Industrial Court has to be changed, that is a decision that lies squarely with the Judicial Service Commission. Where the Law Society of Kenya (LSK) or other professional bodies have requested changes to the law governing them, the Attorney- General is obliged to facilitate an opportunity for the House to debate and determine the propriety of such decisions. Mr. Speaker, Sir, secondly, I want to assure the hon. Members that the sole purpose of this Bill is to review with a view to removing anomalies and inconsistencies, with the specific intension of updating and streamlining our law, and making sure that the law is aligned with the Constitution. Mr. Speaker, Sir, the amendments have been spoken about by hon. Orengo and I do not wish to make any special reference to them, save to remind the hon. Members that some of the amendments we are called upon to make are urgent. Some relate to matters that lie at the heart of our constitutional democracy. For instance, you will remember that the people of Kenya, at the Referendum on the Constitution, agreed to remove from my office – and I must say that I agree entirely with their decision – the powers to prosecute in criminal cases. Those powers have been transferred to the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP), but we have never amended all the legislation that still vests these powers in me. I am happy to be the one to move this Bill, removing these powers from my office, so that they may lie where they should, with the DPP; and I may spend more time in this House contributing to the deliberations of the House and such other powers as it has pleased this House to commit to my office. Mr. Speaker, Sir, the other amendments, as hon. Members will note, touch on very critical aspects of the management of our democracy. Some of them ought to have been brought earlier, but were not, because consultations were still taking place. I am pleased that they have now finally found their way to the Floor of this House. Mr. Speaker, Sir, with those few remarks, I beg to second this Bill."
}