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    "id": 490837,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/490837/?format=api",
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    "content": "Constitution. The sooner, they make an appearance before the Senate Committee, the better for the country. In fact, some of the matters being sought before court have already been dispensed with. In the High Court of Kenya, at Kerugoya, Constitutional Petition No.8 of 2014, the court affirmed our position and said, in summary, whether the petition settled the relief sought. In part 2 it says; “We hold that the Senate can summon Governors, County Executive Members of Finance and County accounting officers to appear before it and answer to questions on County Government finances in so far as the National revenue allocated to the respective county is concerned, but such power should not be exercised in an arbitrary and capricious manner.” The petitions before court are looking at qualification and not on the determination. The judges clearly said, in the body of the ruling, that the Senate could summon Governors. Governors cannot go to court to claim that they have been summoned in an arbitrary and capricious manner when the same said Governors have not appeared in the first instance. “Capricious and arbitrary” would imply where the process has been abused. However, when the commencement was being challenged from day one, the “arbitrary manner” cannot arise. I wish the Judiciary was alive to public interest. You saw the kind of poisoned political situation we are in now. People in public places are holding demonstrations just because all arms of Government are not enforcing what needs to be done. I hope they take judicial notice to ensure that does not happen. Finally, Members are at liberty. First, I want to confirm that I had already started discussions with the Judiciary on the same matters so as to resolve them before they move on ahead. However, of course, Senators are at liberty as they have already alluded to, to bring a Substantive Motion - this is in your Standing Orders - No.94 – to discuss the specifics if need be. It is my prayer that in the meantime, we will allow consultations to take place. I am convinced that both the Judiciary, the Senate and, indeed, Parliament will do what the law requires of us. Sen. Wako already said that if you look at the purposes for which the Judiciary is established, you will see that one of them is to promote the purpose of the Constitution. One of our national values under Article 10 of the Constitution is transparency and accountability. In the opinion number two, when the Senate went to court, the Supreme Court made it abundantly clear that the constitutional framework is such that you cannot have too many checks and balances. It is actually desirable. The argument that under Article 226, county assemblies can interrogate should not stop any other entity from interrogating the same. These positions are already appreciated by the Judiciary, but it surprises me that there is some disconnect where some judges do not read other’s rulings. I thought that was very binding. That is where we are. I want to repeat that you cannot injunct Parliament. You have already demonstrated what it means; it means somebody will go to the court to demand that 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."
}