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{
    "id": 287839,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/287839/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 264,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "Mr. Kimunya",
    "speaker_title": "The Minister for Transport",
    "speaker": {
        "id": 174,
        "legal_name": "Amos Muhinga Kimunya",
        "slug": "amos-kimunya"
    },
    "content": " Thank you, Mr. Speaker, Sir. I thought I would add my voice to this Debate partly because I am a stakeholder in this Bill through some amendments that will be taking place affecting my Ministry. This is on the Kenya Maritime Authority. I wish to confirm to my colleagues, hon. Mbadi and Mrs. Odhimbo-Mabona, that, indeed, the amendments that are coming to the Kenya Maritime Authority Act have come because of stakeholder consultations in reaction to the passage of the Bill. Since it was passed in 2009, stakeholders reacted and have been asking for those amendments. That is how they found their way here. First of all, to confirm that the magnitude of public participation in this Bill is beyond what is the norm, as the Attorney-General confirmed and we thought that we would bring that in our contributions--- We are forgetting that as Parliament, we have been mandated by the Constitution to represent the people in terms of legislation. Each one of us, I believe, has taken up that role. We have consulted with the people. We have consulted in terms of what we need to have before we came to this Parliament. I think we are pushing the issue of participation too far if we expect that we cannot do anything as Parliament until the people themselves come here to participate. The Committee has been given the Bill. Since the matter keeps on coming forward in terms of public participation, it is something that we may need to discuss and agree. Where do we draw the line between us representing the people, participating in legislation on their behalf and abdicating our duty as Parliament and telling the people to now do the legislation and only give us to rubberstamp? I believe that we were elected by people to represent them and to carry out the duty of public legislation in this House. Through our Committees, people have an avenue where they can send their views and that is the whole point of the publication of the Bill and giving it time. This is done so that people can participate through Committees. They can also participate through Members of Parliament. So, public participation alone should not stop us from continuing. Indeed, through what we are doing, we are getting more people to participate. In terms of the other issues of constitutionality, if you look at the Bill, you will see that if there are issues with one, two or three amendments within the Bill, I would like to urge that that should not stop us from continuing with the rest of the Bill because the Attorney-General has undertaken to continue the negotiations. The people who have issues with them in terms of the constitutionality, through the Committee, and by the time we come to the Committee of the whole House, should isolate those things and say that these are inconsistent with the Constitution and we should not continue with them. However, that should not stop us from carrying on with the rest of the Bill. In effect, what hon. Millie Odhimabo-Mabona and Mbadi are doing is to urge us to throw away the baby with the bath water. There may be issues but that does not stop us from continuing with the rest of the Bill. Indeed, even if there were issues of constitutionality or inconsistency, it is only those sections that are inconsistent that will be ruled to be inconsistent as we continue with the rest of the Bill."
}