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{
    "id": 490818,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/490818/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 247,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "Sen. Kembi-Gitura",
    "speaker_title": "",
    "speaker": {
        "id": 242,
        "legal_name": "James Kembi Gitura",
        "slug": "kembi-gitura"
    },
    "content": "Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker, Sir. I want to join the ranks of my colleagues who have contributed very positively to this important debate on the issues of the Judiciary as against the Senate. The Constitution that we have in this country today is actually a lay man’s Constitution; anybody can read it and anybody can understand it. It is actually not even difficult to interpret. Article 125 of the Constitution is very clear and I think it is important to read it so that one understands exactly what it says. Article 125(1) says:- “Either House of Parliament or any of its Committees has power to summon any person to appear before it for the purposes of giving evidence or providing information”. Secondly, Article 125(2) says: “For the purpose of clause (1), a House of Parliament or any of its committees has the same powers as the High Court-” Mr. Speaker, Sir, then it gives the areas that it has the same powers as the High Court. This is important because what it means to me as a lawyer is that when a Committee of the Senate is acting pursuant to or under Article 125(2), it has the same power as the High Court. Mr. Speaker, Sir, therefore it cannot be fathomed that the High Court is not sitting on appeal against what has happened in the Senate nor is it reviewing an order of the Senate because it does not have that power. So, the question is; on what basis can the High Court possibly say that the Senate does not have the power to summon a governor or any other person? Exactly where does the High Court get the authority to say under Article 125 that we cannot ask a governor to come before us? I think this is dangerous. I am on record as having said that dictatorship is bad. It is wrong in all its forms. It does not matter where it comes from. Parliament can create a dictatorship of its own which is wrong. The Judiciary can create a dictatorship and that would be very worrisome because it has the instruments which can be very dangerous if they are not used properly. Mr. Speaker, Sir, as I said, our Constitution is very clear and everybody can read it. Article 174 of the Constitution is the cornerstone of devolution. It is the Article which we look upon when we talk about the importance of devolution. How are we going to oversight if we are having Governors who are opaque in the way they operate and who, against the operations of the Constitution which has underlined the importance of public participation, do not allow anybody, leave alone the public, but the elected leaders from participating in what they are doing? Why does the nation think that the Sang’ Bill came into force? Was it not because of that opaqueness so that under Article 96(3) we are able The electronic version of the Senate Hansard Report is for information purposes only. A certified version of this Report can be obtained from the Hansard Editor, Senate."
}