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"content": "would have gone there to fight again to go to the National Assembly but he did not. Sen. (Dr.) Khalwale was a distinguished Member of the National Assembly, chairing big committees, but he chose to come here. My brother, Sen. Chiaba, and I came to the National Assembly in 1993. These young lawyers here, Judy and my brother, Hassan Omar, left their law firms to come here. Professor here abandoned his teaching job; he was a vice chancellor and not just a teacher, of none other than former President Moi’s university. No wonder he is a member of KANU. The distinguished Senator for Taita Taveta was a top executive of Coca-Cola in the whole of Africa but he is here. It is not because he had nothing to do but because---- Sen. G.G. Kariuki was the most feared Minister in this country. Mr. Speaker, Sir, we are here for the interest of the people of this country. These good ladies are nominated here because of their passion to be what they are. That is why they are here. If this House does not stand to defend itself, those of you who know Kiswahili, you know of “ mtego wa panya unashika waliomo na wasiokuwemo”. Let none of us sit and think it does not concern him. It concerns you squarely. Old habits die hard; the national Government will never want to release authority to the counties. That is why the Senate is there as the defender and protector of counties. We should not forget the oath we took to obey, to preserve, to protect and to defend the Constitution without fear, favour or prejudice. Those who are undermining devolution are flouting the oath they took. They are being dishonest with the oath they took. As I said in Mombasa, if Paul Newman was to come here, he would tell you “this is the case” and it is the mining case. Let me tell you, distinguished Senators, if any of you will be convinced that mining in this country is a function of the national Government, we have lost it. Hon. Najib Balala will sit in Ardhi House or wherever he sits and give out concessions for people to go to Taita-Taveta, Turkana, Kakamega and mine as they wish without caring whether there is a government – and he has sufficient impunity to do that, you know him. Mr. Speaker, Sir, this is the time that this Senate must stand in unison. Reading this Motion, as you read it during the Rules and Business Committee meeting, goes down to the crux of the matter. Being Senators who have sworn to obey, preserve, protect and defend the Constitution, we must follow the Constitution to sort out our issues. That is why we have encouraged you to explore Article 110(3) by talking to the Speaker of the National Assembly. You do not need to beg him. The Constitution says that you shall sit together. Sitting with him is not a privilege to him and it is not a privilege to you. In the absence of this, this is not an assault on anybody. I want to encourage my colleagues, across the Floor, that when it comes to defending the integrity of this Senate, they should stop thinking that they belong to the Jubilee fraternity. We are all in the Senate of the Republic of Kenya. We will go to court to fight against all Bills that have been assented to that we know were taken, processed, passed and assented to without the input of the Senate. 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."
}