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{
    "id": 550879,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/550879/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 65,
    "type": "other",
    "speaker_name": "",
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    "content": "Hon. Speaker Kaparo in a ruling made on 24th June, 1997, had the occasion to clarify the provisions of Section 6 of the Act by stating as follows:- “Any person attempting to serve summons on any honourable Member on days on which the House meets, contravenes Section 6 of the Powers and Privileges Act. Any such purported service or summons is annulet ab initio. In addition to the National Assembly Powers and Privileges Act, the Speaker’s Rules provide for admission to the precincts of Parliament. In particular Rule 5 restricts the entry of visitors to the precincts of Parliament without the special permission of a Senator, a senior officer of Parliament or the Speaker. Rule 9 further requires an officer seeking the audience of a Senator, to not only obtain the necessary pass before entering the precincts, but also wait in the waiting room until escorted. It is, therefore, evident from these provisions that in addition to civil process issued under Section 6 of the National Assembly Powers and Privileges Act, notices to appear before investigatory agencies cannot similarly be served on Senators while the Senate or its committees are sitting. Further, no person purporting to serve such notice on a Senator may do so without the special permission and admission to the precincts required under the Speaker’s rules. Hon. Senators, there is, therefore, no doubt that the manner in which Sen. (Prof.) Lonyangapuo was served with the notice to appear was wanting. The Senator stated in his personal statement that the notice was served on him immediately upon his exit from this Chamber; at the doors of the Chamber. It cannot be surely that a Senator, while in the course of executing his or her functions in this Senate and Committees within the precincts of Parliament, would do so with apprehension and anxiety, not knowing if or when he or she will be accosted with notices to appear. This is certainly not the intention of the National Assembly Powers and Privileges Act, the Speaker’s rules and the practices established on the matter of parliamentary privilege. We cannot have process servers lying in wait for Senators on the corridors of Parliament, waiting to accost them with notices to appear as they enter or leave the Chamber or committee rooms. If this were to be allowed, the business of the Senate would be adversely affected. All of us are familiar that in 1975, two Members were taken from here to where you know; detention. In the circumstances, I would not allow such things to happen. I have, therefore, directed that henceforth, no notices to appear such as happened on Sen. (Prof.) Lonyangapuo or other similar documents, should be served on a Senator within the precincts of Parliament while the Senate or the Committees of the Senate are sitting. Further, no such notices should be served without the notification and special permission of the issue by your Speaker. We are investigating the circumstances in which the strangers found their way to the Chamber."
}