Entry Instance

HTTP 200 OK
Allow: GET, PUT, PATCH, DELETE, HEAD, OPTIONS
Content-Type: application/json
Vary: Accept

{
    "id": 491061,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/491061/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 185,
    "type": "other",
    "speaker_name": "",
    "speaker_title": "",
    "speaker": null,
    "content": "which the Constitution came into force; meaning that this is a Bill that should have been passed and enacted by 27th August, 2013. For some time now, county assemblies have been enjoying certain limited immunities and privileges by virtue of Section 40 of the County Governments Act that provided a Transition Clause to the effect that pending the enactment of this Bill – which is now before the House – county assemblies would enjoy immunities, privileges and powers of the national Parliament contained in Cap 6 of the Parliamentary Immunities and Privileges Act. Mr. Temporary Speaker, Sir, the transition provision provided a very interesting, but common way of enjoining county assemblies in these immunities and privileges. It said that those powers, privileges and immunities of the Parliament of Kenya under Cap 6 would apply to county assemblies mutatis mutandis with necessary modification. That is where the problem is. When we say that they will enjoy the same powers, immunities and privileges with necessary modifications, that gives room to all manner of interpretation. It also gives room to a possibility of people exploiting that proviso to defile the precincts, processes and personnel that assists county assemblies to run their business. This week, Kenyans watched with horror and dismay as a group of Kenyans stormed the Makueni County Assembly. It does not matter what grievances those Kenyans had. The precincts of a County Assembly, just like those of Parliament are immune and inviolable. They cannot be ingressed without the express permission of the head of the institution, in this case, the Speaker. This Bill has come at an appropriate time. It has come at a time when Kenyans remember, about a month ago, that a Governor of a county I will not name literally walked into the chambers of a county assembly uninvited and tried to influence the outcome of the proceedings that were discussing the budget of that county. Why should we have such behavior which we do not expect within the precincts of Parliament? My suspicion is that there are Kenyans who still live in the past where they believe that county assemblies are an extension of the defunct local authorities. They think it is some sort of county council or something without realizing the constitutional paradigm of governance, especially with regard to devolution and separation of powers. This makes county assemblies parliaments at the level of counties. In fact, just to underscore my point, the Constitution talks about the arms of Government and says legislative authority vests in the people of Kenya, but is exercised by Parliament at the national and at the county level. Therefore, the county assemblies are not some kind of county councils or parastatal committee meetings where you can storm in with other Kenyans when you feel angry. This Bill tries to restore, recognize and put a stamp of approval on the sacredness of county assemblies as parliaments and as legislative arms of our county governments. Let me also say that, unfortunately, we have spent a lot of time, in the past, especially one and a half years protecting, discussing and highlighting challenges that are faced by the executives at the county level forgetting that out of the three arms of Government, two of them are already devolved; the Executive and the Legislature. The only organ that has not been devolved is the Judiciary. 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."
}