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{
    "id": 448577,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/448577/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 378,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "Hon. Kang’ata",
    "speaker_title": "",
    "speaker": {
        "id": 1826,
        "legal_name": "Irungu Kang'ata",
        "slug": "irungu-kangata"
    },
    "content": "progression instead of leaving that issue of recognition to specific and respective professional bodies. Be that as it may, I draw the attention of this House to specific areas of my concern. I draw the attention of this House to the failure of this Bill to provide what is called a scope. In my opinion, the scope is: Will this Bill, if enacted into law, affect primary school, secondary school, colleges or university qualifications alone? When you look at other legislation, it is Section 2 of Bills that usually defines the scope of a Bill, say, in terms of defining a word or creating a jurisdiction of that law. This proposed Bill fails to do so. In fact, if enacted the way it is, a question will arise: Does this entity created here affect colleges, primary schools or universities? I am of the view that an amendment should be done in Section 2 or Section 3 or Section 4 to define what institution is going to be affected by this Bill. The other area is Clause 4. It provides:- “An institution shall not award a national qualification which is not authorized or accredited in accordance with this Act.” The question then arises: What of an international institution? When you look at Clause 4(2), it provides a penalty for a person who contravenes the previous Sub-clause (1). However, the question is about cross-border enforcement of that law. Will this Act apply against international institutions, for example, Kampala International University or University of South Africa (UNISA)? We should be very clear as to how this clause is going to affect international institutions which are outside the jurisdiction of this country. Hon. Temporary Deputy Speaker, I draw your attention, again, to Clause 6 of this Bill. It establishes the headquarters of the Authority to be in Nairobi. That is good but I have issues. You never know, because this country may at one moment shift its capital city and in such kind of instance, this way of drafting a Bill and expressly providing that the headquarters shall be in Nairobi, I am of the view, is too static. It is not dynamic and it does not foresee changes in the way our country is configured. I am of the view that the issue of headquarters should never find itself in the Bill before Parliament. I also draw your attention to Clause 7. It establishes the functions of the Authority that is going to be created by this law. When you look at these functions, it does not expressly give this Authority the power to accredit – it does not do so. It is not very clear, therefore, whether this Authority is the one which will actually be doing the accreditation. Is its work only to formulate policies? If we are just creating an Authority to create policies, I am of the view that this Bill should not be accepted. We should give this Authority express powers to do the actual work that is related to the issue of qualification and that is accreditation. I am of the view that Clause 7 should be amended to expressly give this Authority the power to do actual accreditation. Hon. Temporary Deputy Speaker, I refer you to Clause 9 of the Bill, which seeks to establish a council. The council will be the management authority of the institution that we are creating. However, it is not fully representative, in my opinion. The Bill has failed to incorporate other key institutions. For example, we have the Kenya National Examination Council and other entities which deal with accreditation. I draw your attention to a sub-clause proposing the Chairperson of the Association of Professional Societies in East Africa. That person may be Ugandan or Tanzanian. In such scenario, I do not know how such person is going to fit in the Authority. The electronic version of the Official Hansard Report is for information purposesonly. A certified version of this Report can be obtained from the Hansard Editor."
}