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{
    "id": 487967,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/487967/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 41,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "Hon. Cheboi",
    "speaker_title": "",
    "speaker": {
        "id": 329,
        "legal_name": "Moses Kipkemboi Cheboi",
        "slug": "moses-cheboi"
    },
    "content": "Therefore, what is being done here is to bring Cabinet Secretaries to hon. Members, so that hon. Members can be able to transact issues touching on their constituencies in a better manner. I am sure that the Committee Chairs will be very happy with this development. Hon. Members will no longer attempt, in any way, to pin them down on issues which are supposed to be tackled by the Executive. The proposition is the creation of a grand Committee of the House. If hon. Members eventually approve this Report, a Committee to be known as “Committee on General Oversight (GOS)” will be created by this House. I would like hon. Members to look at the salient features of the proposed Committee. The first feature is that the Committee will be chaired by the Speaker of the National Assembly. In his absence, the Deputy Speaker will chair it. Secondly, the quorum of the Committee will be 16 Members. A membership of 16 is good enough to work on issues that will have been brought here. Of course, this will be a very exciting period of this Parliament. I am sure that there will always be more than sufficient number of hon. Members attending. Hon. Speaker, the other salient feature of the CGO is that the Leader of the Majority Party will be consulting with the Speaker in creating the agenda of the Committee and scheduling of Questions. Another salient feature of the Committee is that it will be held every Tuesday, from 10 a.m. to 12.30 p.m. What will come out this arrangement is that we will be giving an opportunity to Cabinet Secretaries to come here at a time when it is fairly convenient for them and for hon. Members also to be able to participate because of the fact that it will not be starting business too early. I am sure that hon. Members know that on Tuesday mornings, we do not have any sittings. So, we will actually be adding ourselves some work, so that Kenyans and our electorate will be able to see that we are working well for them. Sometimes, members of the public do not notice that hon. Members do not simply sit in this House. There are also Committees and other functions that hon. Members discharge in their capacity as Members of Parliament. Hon. Speaker, another salient feature of the GOC is that hon. Members will have an opportunity to ask questions to the Cabinet Secretaries, who will then be able to respond. Hon. Members will also be given an opportunity to seek clarifications and ask further Questions on the Floor of the House. Members of the public will be able to see some work being done by Members of Parliament. For the Members who were in the Ninth and the Tenth Parliament, and other Parliaments before, will know that, at that particular time, they could be able to extract some very reasonable commitment from Ministers then – but not the Cabinet Secretaries now. Another feature of the Committee is that there shall be a maximum of three Cabinet Secretaries to be invited at any one time. That is to say that hon. Members will have sufficient opportunity to deal with issues that will be brought by those Cabinet Secretaries, in terms of answering specific questions from hon. Members. Further, as I indicated earlier, there will be between 10 and 20 questions to be posed to a Cabinet 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."
}