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{
    "id": 358434,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/358434/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 99,
    "type": "other",
    "speaker_name": "",
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    "speaker": null,
    "content": "When you look at Article 109 – Exercise of Legislative Powers – that is the section of the Constitution that addresses the fundamental responsibility of Parliament; which is to legislate. You would see, right from the beginning that, legislative authority is primarily vested in this House and the Constitution is very clear at Article 109 (2). It states as follows:- Any Bill on any matter, even on the counties; any matter under the sun and below sea – “Any Bill may originate in this National Assembly.” The same Article restricts the legislative authority and mandate of the Senate to matters only concerning county governments. But the same matters can still be legislated here and even when it comes to matters of financial allocation, the Constitution permits this House to veto decisions of the Senate. Hon. Speaker, let me conclude by addressing this issue – I hope your ruling will also pay attention to this. There has been an attempt in the Senate to compare the structure of Kenyan Parliament to the structure of Parliaments in the United States of America (USA) and in the United Kingdom (UK). So, we are told by Members of the Senate and by the media that in the USA, the Senate is the Upper House and in the UK, the House of Lords is the upper House. May we send this message clearly to the Senate that those comparisons cannot fly even an inch above the ground. One, in the USA, for the avoidance of doubt; the Constitution is absolutely clear in terms of the hierarchy of the Senate and the Congress. It is absolutely clear and leaves no doubt to the extent that the Vice-President of the USA is the Speaker of the Senate in that country. That is a comparison that nobody is bothered to remind anyone here. Furthermore, the responsibilities granted to the Senate in the United States of America (USA) are of a level of a structure that cannot be compared to the responsibilities handed to the Senate in Kenya. The House of Lords in the United Kingdom (UK) is a peerage House – a place where feudal lords or peers of the monarch would sit, chat and assist the monarch to reign over the monarchy that, at one time, was extending as far as our shores. Remember those days when the House of Lords came to being. The King rode at the head of the military. He led the wars. The feudal lords had to finance those expeditions. Therefore, the King chose to share certain privileges with you when you were picked to serve in the House of Lords. Can you also, Senators, go back and look at the history of the House of Lords and how it came to be the Upper House in the structure of the Parliament of the United Kingdom to reign above the House of Commons? So, really, this is not a matter that should even be taking our time but, because it has arisen, let us address it and address it with finality. Constitutionally, historically and traditionally – from whichever angle of the compass you look at it – the National Assembly is the senior House in the Parliament of Kenya, as constituted by the Constitution. Thank you, Hon. Speaker, Sir."
}