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{
    "id": 546907,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/546907/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 337,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "Hon. Kipyegon",
    "speaker_title": "",
    "speaker": {
        "id": 1453,
        "legal_name": "Johana Ngeno Kipyegon",
        "slug": "johana-ngeno-kipyegon"
    },
    "content": "Thank you, hon. Deputy Speaker. I wish to voice my concern, especially on the issue of Motions. Sometimes we deal with Bills and amendments which are very important. The amendments to the Kenya National Examination Council (Amendment) Bill are very important. Most of us would have wanted to make serious contributions but we were being given two or three minutes because there are other Motions that have been lined up for debate. I am one of the Members who have never brought a Motion to this House, the only reason being where Motions end up. They end up in the archives. They have never become anything meaningful. Sometimes we need to take things seriously. Even if we are going to give Motions one hour or 30 minutes, let us give Bills – which go a long way to change people’s lives – between three and five hours. We should not dedicate a lot of time to Motions which end up in the archives, where they are forgotten forever. This House has been debating and passing Motions since its inception, but those Motions have not become anything meaningful to society. I do not know whether we need to amend the Standing Orders, so that whatever issue comes up for debate in this House can be in the form of either a Bill or amendment to a Bill. The issue of discussing Motions every now and then, and remaining with only few minutes to discuss matters of great importance to this nation, should be done away with. I wish we could do a serious analysis of what we do in this House. Secondly, I would like to comment on the issue of absence of movers of Bills or Motions. As Members of Parliament, our main responsibility is to legislate, in addition to oversight and other roles. We have been elected by Kenyans to sit in this House and legislate, especially when your matter is slated for debate. It is important that we take the business of this House very seriously. Hon. Members should not be coming to sit here in vain. Some of us come to sit here, waiting to discuss Bills, which are very important to this nation. We are disappointed when movers of Bills do not turn up to do their work. The most annoying thing is when we are given two minutes to speak on a Bill. Even if it means locking out some of us from contributing to a particular Bill or Motion, we should desist from the idea of voting every now and then to reduce the speaking time to three minutes. What is the importance of many people speaking shallowly? If each Member speaking on any Bill or Motion is allocated five minutes, we should leave it that way. We would rather have 10 Members substantially contributing to debate on a Bill rather than give each Member in the House one minute to contribute to the same Bill. What can I say in one minute? I cannot say anything in one minute. I will just stand here and sit. We need to change the way we deal with matters in this House. Let us give ourselves enough time. In the Senate, each Senator is allowed to speak for 20 minutes but in this House, we are given two minutes. We need to change the way we deal with matters in this House. Thank you, hon. Deputy Speaker."
}