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{
    "id": 384583,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/384583/?format=api",
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    "content": "Sen. Amos Wako is looking at me. If you look at the index to the laws of Kenya, there is a whole chapter dealing with animal husbandry. All legislation dealing with animal husbandry is cited. Together with the legislations dealing with agriculture, there are 67 pieces of legislation. I think it is necessary and almost imperative that we have the Chair of the Agriculture, Land and Natural Resources Committee join this Committee. I must say that I had a discussion with Sen. Gideon Moi who has a tremendous interest in trying to make sure that there is a review of these laws in totality and finding some harmony. I was always taught that if you look at laws in isolation, you may not achieve much. If you also read a specific law, clause by clause, you may not achieve much. So, a review of all laws that affect the functions and mandates of the county governments will be important for us to see the whole picture rather than see the pieces of legislation in isolation. The richness that we have been brought to this Committee by bringing these other Senators to this Committee cannot be gainsaid. So, I hope that when we come to vote, people will see that this is an important amendment which is supposed to improve not only the capacity but also the share in numbers. All sectors within the Senate will be represented including gender balance. I do not want to take more time. However, you will realise that we may not take a vote on the amendment because of the position we are in, in the House, which is understandable. In the last two to three days, people have been focused on one issue. However, if you listened to the speeches that have been made, you will see that they all relate to the events that have happened in the last two days. Let me say that when you have a new dispensation, vigilance is always important. As lawmakers, if we are not vigilant, we may not achieve much. The great democracies of the world, as we may think they are great, like in the West and Europe have survived because of constant vigilance and review of laws that are in place so that systems are perfected. In the United States, they say that in order to have a more perfect union, you continue to review and utterly all the time and in all ages exercise absolute vigilance. In the area of lawmaking, it never stops. Some of the ordinances that we find in Kenya today were enacted in the year 1911. Actually, there are some laws in Kenya which are still in place, as they were enacted in 1912. In fact, there is even some legislation which concerns particular individuals, like the Mazrui Laws or Isaac Okwiri Act. Some of those legislations are still in our law books. Why are they still there? It is because we have not forever been vigilant in reviewing and ensuring that the laws that are in place are updated, so that they are in accord with the new dispensation. So, achieving a Constitution like the one that we have done, requires this constant vigilance, so that we perfect our legal system and constitutional governance and also ensure that what is outdated or archaic and belongs to the dark ages must be removed from the statute books. Nobody knows this better than the Attorney General Emeritus . In fact, I cannot say that this exercise has never happened because every year the Attorney-General – when I was in Parliament – always came up with legislation which in effect was looking at the laws of Kenya as a whole. If there was anything that did not merit being in the statutes books, then they were repealed. I think that this is part of the exercise; not The electronic version of the Senate Hansard Report is for information purposes only. A certified version of this Report can be obtained from the Hansard Editor, Senate."
}