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{
    "id": 553410,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/553410/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 237,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "Hon. Mulu",
    "speaker_title": "",
    "speaker": {
        "id": 1955,
        "legal_name": "Benson Makali Mulu",
        "slug": "benson-makali-mulu"
    },
    "content": "Thank you, hon. Speaker. I was also a Member of the Mediation Committee and it was my first experience to sit in a Mediation Committee. In agreeing with my colleagues who are also Members of the Committee, I must thank the Members of the Committee because it did not take us very long to agree on these issues of concern. Hon. Speaker, I will only focus on Clause 39 because the rest have been explained quite well. Clause 39 focuses on the audit of security organs. To me, this clause is very important because, in this country, there have been a lot of secrets in terms of what happens to those agencies. As a Mediation Committee, we have agreed that in terms of auditing and in terms of scope, we are not going to restrict the Auditor-General on what they need to look at. But what will be a bit restrictive is confidentiality of the information so that, even though the Auditor- General will look at the information and get information, the information he captures in his report, to some extent is controlled, so that we do not expose our security details a lot. I think that is why it is important to have those auditors who will be auditing the security organs vetted by the relevant Government agencies. So, to me, that is one of the clauses which will help this country in terms of trying to know what happens in those agencies. That is because most times, Kenyans believe that there is a lot of corruption in security matters. But I think with this kind of clause, Kenyans are able to believe that the right things are being done. Hon. Speaker, what I learnt in this Mediation Committee is that, in future, the two Houses need to come up with a mechanism - whether informal - of some consultations before the Senate formally writes a Memorandum to you. My belief is that if the Chairman of the Departmental Committee on Finance, Planning and Trade was informally invited to the discussion of the Senate, we would not have got to this level. That is because I could see Hon. Langat and Senator Billow Kerrow were in agreement informally that this thing should have been done before going to the two Houses. To save the House this important time, in future, the two Speakers could say that before you finalize whatever you are doing, they can compare notes. So, where we were saying replace the word “may” and “shall” could be sorted out at that level before it comes to the House. With those comments, I want to plead with my colleagues hon. Members to support the Mediation Committee so that we could this Bill can become an Act of Parliament."
}