Entry Instance

HTTP 200 OK
Allow: GET, PUT, PATCH, DELETE, HEAD, OPTIONS
Content-Type: application/json
Vary: Accept

{
    "id": 462418,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/462418/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 234,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "Hon. Angwenyi",
    "speaker_title": "",
    "speaker": {
        "id": 326,
        "legal_name": "Jimmy Nuru Ondieki Angwenyi",
        "slug": "jimmy-angwenyi"
    },
    "content": "Hon. Speaker, I rise to contribute to this Motion on two or three accounts. One, you cannot gag Parliament from discussing issues unless they touch on matters of substance like my sister said. If we were to be gagged, we have no business being in this House. Also, if we were to be gagged and we let the committees operate without timelines then some important issues for this nation may not be resolved. The second issue is that although we have the oversight role to play in this country we cannot micromanage other sectors of Government in this country. I neither expect us to be involved in matters of discipline say of the Executive or the Judiciary nor do I expect them to be involved in matters of discipline in Parliament. So, while I would like us to guard and protect the rights of Kenyans we must also respect other institutions, the Executive and the Judiciary. The matters presently in the public domain, we involved ourselves too early in those matters. If an institution was trying to mete discipline on one of the officers, we moved in too quickly. In fact, it betrays us. We should have declared our personal interest in that matter. We went into that matter so early. Hon. Speaker, although we do investigations we have got Government institutions that can thoroughly do investigations at our direction. For example, if we cannot do forensic audit we could ask an agency of Government to do that job for us. We could even hire a consultancy from outside to do that job for us. We know that we must protect our communities, voters and what not, but who will be there to protect the Njemps? Who will be in this House to protect the Ogiek? Who will be in this House to protect the Suba? So, let us not look at issues from the angle of our tribes, clans, or regions. Let us look at matters with impartiality. We must give the other branches of Government time and space to operate. It looks like we do not have much to do here and that is why we want to indulge ourselves everywhere. We want to know how much money a Minister spent to buy confectionary in his office. Although we have got all these powers, we are not unlimited. Just like my sister has said, let us not gag the media. That day we will do that, that will be the day we would have destroyed this Parliament. The day we gag our media, we shall have destroyed this Parliament, I am telling you, beyond measure. If you have a strong Executive, it can muzzle us like nobody’s business and nobody will report about it. 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."
}