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{
    "id": 548306,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/548306/?format=api",
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    "content": "exercise is an acceptance of responsibility and accountability. People swear to certain forms of responsibility that the other one will also observe that they do their part. Madam Temporary Speaker, the Sen. Sang’ Law is one of those areas which can really help our role in protecting the interest of county governments. He said that we know in reality that there are all kinds of resources going to the counties and all kinds of players in the governance and development of a county. If we are going to protect these players and defend their interest, we should be in a position to discuss with them and find out what is going on surplus, as the French would say, where it happens so that way we do not wait and always do postmortem work. Postmortem work is good in the sense of people presenting books of account at the end of an exercise or period. However, we have committees in this House that deal with that. When it comes to the overall responsibility of the Senate protecting and promoting the interests of the counties, we need many more institutions and more laws and regulations that will bring this alive. This is one of the reasons why I think this particular initiative by my colleague, Sen. Murungi, is so important. Madam Temporary Speaker, we, Senators, educate the nation in trying to explain to the nation what our role is. Most people in this House are very senior; they have performed various roles and functions in this society, they have been Members of Parliament, civil servants or academicians for long periods of time. So, they have reached a position where they are not looking for self-fortunes. Madam Temporary Speaker, that is the last of our concerns. We are looking for bequeathing to this nation something that will help it develop. We have been given this onerous responsibility of doing something which is very noble and novel in this Constitution of creating this level of Government with enormous powers and responsibilities and resources, that needs a national institution like the Senate to look after it. So, when we explain to the nation that we need to do something thoroughly, perfectly and effectively, it should not be looked at as a way of trying to advance self- interest. Instead, it should be looked at as a way of trying to ensure that there is institutional capacity and capability of this House to perform its functions. Indeed, it is extremely short-sighted for anybody in this nation to think that the Senate is not necessary or a time will come when the Senate will be done away with as it was the case in 1966. If you do away with the Senate, you will dismantle the whole Constitution. This is because it is not just in Article 96 where the role of the Senate is explained but also in Article 94 where the role of Parliament as a whole is explained. The Senate and the National Assembly constitute Parliament. When we say that the legislative authority of the Republic is derived from the people and at the national level is vested in and exercised by Parliament, we are talking about two Houses. Madam Temporary Speaker, in performing the legislative role, the Constitution goes further in various articles to explain the various responsibilities of legislation assigned to the two Houses. If anybody thinks, in their wildest moments of thinking, that this nation could be served better without this House, the whole edifice of the Constitution will come down because the two levels of government cannot function without this House. It does not matter whether Sen. Ndiema, Sen. Keter, Sen. (Dr.) Khalwale, Sen. (Prof.) Lonyangapuo or Sen. Sijeny is here. They may not be here but the 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."
}