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{
    "id": 520576,
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    "content": "commission of inquiry dealing with dissolution of counties will be facilitated because they are not subservient to the national Government. They are supposed to operate independently without any interference. Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir, this is the message we want to pass to the nominees: that if they have had the privilege of being nominated by the President, their responsibility is not to the President, but to the people of Kenya and Makueni. We urge them to be totally impartial and to ensure that should there be any interest because it has not been expressed now, that the national Government has in terms of matters of Makueni, they must be willing to go against those interests and act impartially to ensure that they serve the people of Makueni. I have no doubt that the President is impartial in his mind in terms of the dispute in Makueni. I will not cast aspersions to the President of the Office of the President. This is a caution generally for any person who serves in a commission of inquiry; that they must be independent from the national Government because that is one level of Government dealing with matters of another level of Government. Again, Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir, as I said earlier, we also noted that we need to amend Article 123(5) in two ways. First is to ensure that the National Police Service Commission Chair is not mandatorily required to sit there - it could be his representative – and evaluate the necessity of having the National Police Service or the Inspector- General of Police being represented in a commission of inquiry. Particularly when the Constitution provides that on matters of conflict that may occur, a county may be dissolved as a result of war or internal conflict. When there are matters of internal conflict, already the police have a hand in resolving those disputes. So, in future, it would, perhaps, lead to a situation of conflict of interest to have a police officer sitting and inquiring into a situation in a county where we know that when there is a conflict or war the first area of intervention would be the police. Secondly is to review the composition of the Committee, because as at now, there are six members. We are assuming that everybody has an equal vote. Therefore, there is a high possibility of a tie if they vote on a particular issue. Again, it would be nice for the law be amended to ensure that for such a committee, we have an odd number; seven, nine or five. Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir, finally there is a very important issue which was overlooked by the drafters of the County Governments Act, which I must say I was also there. Section 123 of the County Governments Act gives all timelines in terms of after how long the names come to the Senate, a report can be dealt with by Senate and after how many days the President can submit the report. The most critical timeline is not provided for. This is the time which the Commission of Inquiry will take to be able to conclude a report. This is not provided for in the law. Therefore, using the Commission of Inquiry Act, the President at his discretion appointed this Commission to serve for a maximum of six months. I do not think even in law there is anything that stops the President to extent it for another six months. Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir, if that extension is given six months and it continues, there is possibility and danger that on matters such as these which are supposed to be resolved expeditiously, there is a possibility for inordinate delay. That delay can affect 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."
}