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{
    "id": 461234,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/461234/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 177,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "Hon. Keynan",
    "speaker_title": "",
    "speaker": {
        "id": 41,
        "legal_name": "Adan Wehliye Keynan",
        "slug": "adan-keynan"
    },
    "content": "We issued an invitation, because that is what the procedure requires. Again, this was in line with Article 125 of the Constitution, which gives the Committee the same jurisdiction as the High Court. The Member appeared before the Committee and, as some of you might have read, said: “Look, yes, you have invited me as a witness”, but he was not willing to give any evidence before the Committee. He quoted the Powers and Privileges Act. Our hands were tied and we were forced to contend with that. We just said that the Powers and Privilege Act is there. Initially, we were of the view that it would have been in the interests of justice, the Member and the public for the Member to shed light on what he knew about that transaction. Again, because the Member invoked the provisions of the Powers and Privileges Act, we did not pursue him. We allowed the Member all the necessary institutional opportunity to give his side of that particular transaction. I felt that I should put this on record because there is a question. Over the last three days, we have been bombarded, as Members of the Committee, with so many questions. How can you bring a report that adversely mentions one of you? In this era, we have to be fair, consistent and thorough with whatever we do. Hon. Speaker, doing a skewed report simply because one of our Members was adversely mentioned, in our opinion, we felt we would be failing in our cardinal responsibility as the electorates’ representatives, and as people who have sworn to defend and uphold the Constitution. Therefore, I want to proudly commend the members of the Committee for standing firm. I also want to thank hon. Waluke for accepting the reality that this was a report none of us knew would find hon. Waluke under the circumstances. This was something that happened a long time ago, and then even hon. Waluke was not a Member of Parliament; we said this is the price we have to pay because of our oversight role. I want to again commend hon. Waluke for accepting that reality and the members of the Committee for accepting that, indeed, the law must apply equally to everybody regardless of his or her stature."
}