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{
    "id": 392287,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/392287/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 109,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "Hon. Ethuro",
    "speaker_title": "The Speaker",
    "speaker": {
        "id": 158,
        "legal_name": "Ekwee David Ethuro",
        "slug": "ekwee-ethuro"
    },
    "content": " Hon. Senators, I think that we have spent a lot of time on this matter and I have actually ruled that we can only use the Standing Order raised by Sen. Orengo, just to really fortify my ruling. If you look at Standing Order No.43 (2) (b) it reads:- “(2) During the Statements Hour- (b) The Senate Majority Leader or the Senate Minority Leader as the case may be, or their designees may make a statement relating to their responsibilities in the Senate or the activities of a Committee.” So, when I said “failure by the Committee to respond, then the Senate Majority Leader should,” I had that in mind. Standing Order No.43 (2) (c) reads:- “(2) During the Statements Hour- (c) A Senator may request for a statement from a Committee chairperson relating to matters under the mandate of the Committee and the Speaker may either appoint a day for the statement to be made or direct that the statement be issued on the same day.” So, the Standing Orders actually allow me to ask the Chairperson to make the Statement immediately, assuming that the Chair, of course, is fully conversant with the issues, being the Chair of the Committee. Secondly, the practice has been that we have allowed the Senator requesting the Statement and the responding Committee to agree on the most convenient and suitable time, just appreciating our own small democracy within the House. That has been the practice. By the time the Senator comes back for a reminder, it is actually on the basis that the responding Committee had already committed itself to a particular time. I think that, that should be the way to go, except when they fail to observe the time that they had agreed. But when you look at the mandate of the Committee--- I know that this matter has been canvassed in the House for a long time and we agree that since this is a new thing, we are all trying to see how best to do it, including the point that Sen. Orengo raised; whether a Member of the opposition can do so. This is a matter that the Senate 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."
}