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    "id": 498864,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/498864/?format=api",
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    "content": "concerning which House a Bill should go to is a question not to be determined by the President or the Attorney-General but by the Speakers of the two Houses of Parliament. That is all I meant. In terms of determining where legislation goes and the entire process of legislation, the President is not involved. It is the two Speakers. In fact, a legal question arises – I remember last Thursday I alluded to it – we will also have to interrogate the two Speakers as servants of these Houses of Parliament. This is because the responsibility to determine is given upon them jointly, not severally. So, they should tell us why they are unable to exercise joint discretion which has been given to them jointly. Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir, the President gets involved in legislation at the tail end of the exercise in terms of assent. In that function, he relies on the Attorney-General who is a civil servant and advises the President. Of course, the President has to take that advice and weigh it against whatever other factors he has. However, the determination of where a Bill should go is not a function of the Attorney-General or the President, but of the two Speakers of Parliament. Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir, the President respects the rule of law; he respects and supports the Senate as provided for in the Constitution. Recently, the Senate passed the County Governments (Amendment) Bill; the popular “Sang Bill”. I know there are people who had legal issues about it. However, he looked at the mandate of the Senate, all factors and sought the advice from whoever he needed advice from. He came to a conclusion that the Senate had acted within the law and assented to that Bill. Of course, anybody who is unhappy with that Bill is free to go to court as normally happens and I believe that matter is already in court. So, let us not blame the wrong people. The solution to this problem is with us ourselves. Finally, I want to say that I think that because of the severity of this matter, we will have to mix both diplomacy and a bit of practical and pragmatic action. That is why we have said that whenever we have consultations, we should also convert that into writing for the record. For the information of the Senators, the letter I wrote to the President is also copied to the Attorney-General and I have followed it up with the conversation."
}