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"content": "on behalf of the committee, especially when such a Member is a member of a minority coalition. Other Members who spoke on the matter included the Member for Kitui Central, the hon. Makali Mulu, the Member for Samburu North, hon. Alloys Lentoimaga, the Member for Belgut, hon. Eric Keter, the Member for Kajiado Central and, maybe, others; I may not have put everybody in. Having listened to them I have deduced the following three matters as requiring my determination: One, who takes responsibility for the responses to Statements requests? Two, do we have Government and Opposition sides in the House? Three, should any Member other than the Chairperson or Vice-Chair respond to a Statement requested by a committee chair? Hon. Members, just to remind the House, the subject of that particular Statement was on the plight of our soldiers returning from Somalia. Allow me to begin by thanking the membership of this House for raising these very important matters. It is my view that if we were to impartially answer these questions as individual Members we, probably, would not seek the guidance of anybody on the responses to Statements, let alone a ruling of the Speaker. If we were to be faithful to our Standing Orders and practices of this House, I have no doubt that the Speaker would rarely be asked to provide guidance on such matters as the interpretation of Standing Orders. However, since I was asked to give this guidance I will not fail to rise to the occasion. The first question relates to who owns responses to Statements requested by the members of committee chairs. Hon. Members, Standing Order No.44(1)(c) states that: “A member may request a statement from committee chairperson relating to matters under the mandate of the committee, and the Speaker may either appoint a day for the Statement or direct that the Statement be issued on the same day. The chairperson does not work in isolation. The role of the chairperson is clearly stipulated in Standing Order No. 180, which includes presiding at meetings of the committee, perform the functions and exercise the powers assigned to the office of the chairperson by the committee, resolutions of the Assembly and legislation and be the spokesperson of the committee. Therefore, it follows that the Statement requested to the Chairperson, not as an individual, but in their capacity as the spokesperson of the Committee. Responsibility is, therefore, on the entire Committee. In accordance with that Standing Order, in the absence of the Chairperson or the Vice-Chairperson, a Member designated by the Chairperson shall take the Chair. In the absence of such a designated Member, the Members of the Committee shall elect one of them to take the Chair. This spirit should thus apply in the responses to Statements. In the absence of both the Chair and the Vice-Chair, a Member designated by the Chairperson shall respond. In the absence of such a designated Member, the Members of the Committee shall elect one of them to respond. In the particular case before us, the Member for Kiminini, hon. Wamalwa, was tasked by the Departmental Committee on Defence and Foreign Relations during its sitting held on Tuesday, 15th July, 2014 to respond to the Statement in question."
}