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{
    "id": 490780,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/490780/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 209,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "Sen. Hassan",
    "speaker_title": "",
    "speaker": {
        "id": 431,
        "legal_name": "Hassan Omar Hassan Sarai",
        "slug": "hassan-omar-hassan-sarai"
    },
    "content": "Mr. Speaker, Sir, in due fairness, everything else must have been said, but I want to convey the public policy message. Men, women and institutions are judged in terms of character with respect to the judgements that they deliver and decisions they make. As much as we may not sit on the bench as judicial officers, we have people around the country with sufficient intellect and sufficient reason to make a determination whether a judgement has public appeal; it drives public policy or whether the judgement in its own manifestation is reasonable and accurate. What the Judiciary has continued to do over the years since its transformation under the new Constitution is to severely undermine its authority. My concern is that if the Judiciary continues to make orders to gag institutions that are constitutional, the authority of the Judiciary will be waned to the point where nobody will ever trust their decisions. Mr. Speaker, Sir, I think we are faced with almost a constitutional crisis; that an institution is quite keen to frustrate the transactions of a particular arm of government. The public policy message that must be driven is that we are not summoning these governors for a cup of tea. We are summoning them on account of accountability of public resources. I think it is an extra-ordinarily narrow public policy message that the Judiciary is driving to the country that governors or public officers cannot be summoned by the Senate on matters of accountability. Even if the Judiciary exercises its mandate, it must be in tandem with public policy because the public believes that governors and State officers must account for resources. Therefore, for the Judiciary to say that in the interim as money is being embezzled the Senate cannot conduct its responsibility, is a blow to the Constitution. The more the Judiciary keeps giving these types of orders which are not reasoned, are irrational, do not ascribe policy and illegal, the more it is opening itself to the possibility of its orders being ignored. Sooner than later, you will find ordinary Kenyans not respecting the judiciary. Their respect must be earned by things that make sense and meet the threshold of public policy and the Constitution."
}