Entry Instance

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

{
    "id": 492830,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/492830/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 137,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "Hon. Kajwang",
    "speaker_title": "",
    "speaker": {
        "id": 2712,
        "legal_name": "Tom Joseph Kajwang'",
        "slug": "kajwang-tom-joseph-francis"
    },
    "content": "Thank you, hon. Speaker for allowing me to add my voice to the debate on this matter. I want to welcome sincerely the statement and the forthright information given to us by the Leader of Majority Party concerning this; I want to urge Members that we need to treat these Cabinet Secretaries in such a way that we will all move together towards the new dispensation that we are trying to create. I want to think that what we saw this morning must have been the teething problems we have with understanding the Standing Orders and procedures of this House. These are new amendments that they will have to live by if they have to live in this country. This is because there is only one country with one Constitution and these Standing Orders have been prepared pursuant to that Constitution. I was also going to say that even if the officers vanished, I think next time the best way to handle an officer who is errant is to invoke Standing Order No.125 and bring an officer here under summons. This morning Charity Ngilu did not appear before us on summons; but should there be a reason for invoking Standing Order No.125, there should be no single Cabinet Secretary, or anybody else, who will want to take the orders of this House lightly. However, hon. Speaker, allow me to congratulate you and also congratulate this House on behalf of the Procedure and House Rules Committee. I have the authority of the first Chairperson to say this on behalf of the members of the Panel; that we are grateful that a baby that we midwived has now come of age. Hon. Speaker, we need to congratulate ourselves since we have implemented the Constitution. Article 153 is, therefore, fully implemented and we can now have full and regular reports coming from the Cabinet Secretaries before the National Assembly, whether in Committees or otherwise, so that we are able to do what Article 94(4) expects us. Article 94(4) says that we should not only discuss but resolve issues of national concern. There is only one way in which we are going to resolve issues; if we are able to discuss and have a conversation with the people who implement the things that we pass here--- Ours is to oversee. Ours is not to implement, but we need to tell them so that they know how to implement. Having said that, there are two people in this country whose advice we need to be very wary of. One is the Attorney General. The way he is going, he is becoming a very bad advisor to the President. The amendments came before this House and were fully debated. Another set of amendments were again proposed before this House, fully debated and approved. Any conscientious Attorney General follows the proceedings of the National Assembly. If he does not follow them, then he is not an Attorney General of this country. So, he must have seen us agonizing and debating these issues and presenting them before the country; the 290 Members and the other Members who make the National Assembly agree that this is the way to go. For the a person who advises the President to engage in correspondence which flagrantly abuses the integrity and the dignity of this House, I found that to be reprehensible. Hon. Speaker, I do not advise you, but these are people whom the Speaker’s Office must never talk to directly. The Attorney General should talk to the Clerk of the National Assembly and some of those officers. The Speaker is the head of this institution. I find it a little abusive of the integrity of this House that an Attorney General should 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."
}