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"content": "assume that this was the nature and order of things. If the Senate was indeed the junior House of the Legislature, it will not require that, for example, my friend Sen. Billow, to get every vote in every ward and constituency, everywhere and every place in Mandera County. I was in Mandera about three or four months ago and seeing what the Senator had to undergo to get elected, it was not a walk in the park, yet, there are some people who believe that going through an entire county in order to get elected is easy. In West Pokot County and Samburu County, one sometimes looks for votes in times of internal conflict and you to get those votes one by one, then somebody tells you that when you come here, your function is just to participate in the law making and not to enact laws. We also have a very important category of Kenyans who are disenfranchised through history and exclusion; the women in the Senate. I believe that we should never think of them as lesser than the elected Members of the Senate. In fact, we should look at the question of votes by delegation. Although Sen. Khaniri disagrees, I invite him to have a little debate with his better half this evening and come better informed. We can have difference of opinion, but these are things that we can look at through the process of review to ensure that the Constitution is a better document than it ever was. If you go to Sen. Njoroge’s office, you find that people come to see him from Busia and all over the country, because they know that he has got a national constituency. I think that is an important thing that we need to review and look at. However, what I know is that, going by the experiences of the First Parliament; either in terms of the Senate or the National Assembly, if we do not act now, then we are forever gone. Mr. Speaker, Sir, sometimes when I look at the cocktail of laws which were made in the First Parliament, there was general assumption that all men are good and they mean well for each one of us. However, there was an Englishman who said that power corrupts and absolute power corrupts absolutely. There is an animal called the Budget and Appropriations Committee in the National Assembly which has become rogue and translated itself to be part of the Treasury, instead of being a medium for budget making of Parliament, rather than becoming a functional organ of the Treasury. As I say this, I am impressed by the view that I read from the meeting that took place in Mombasa over the weekend under the leadership of no other person but our Speaker. Those views have contributed towards giving the Senate a better rapport with the people as a whole. However, I think that the more we go into this controversy, the Senate is coming out as a more responsible and trusted organ, not just like a Legislature, but as an organ of Government. I know that in this process which I am very enthusiastic in participating, we will come up with a constitutional review touching on important questions that relate to law making. Mr. Speaker, Sir, sometimes when I hear some people speak about the Senate, I want to cry. This is because the best people in this country who wanted to be legislators ended up in this House. The way they talk off-guardedly and depict the Senate, as some little place where nothing goes on, I cry for this nation and begin to understand why the First Senate was abolished in very questionable circumstances. 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."
}