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{
    "id": 569648,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/569648/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 93,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "Hon. Midiwo",
    "speaker_title": "",
    "speaker": {
        "id": 184,
        "legal_name": "Washington Jakoyo Midiwo",
        "slug": "jakoyo-midiwo"
    },
    "content": "Hon. Speaker, I stand to oppose this Motion. I want to reason with the House and the Leader of the Majority Party who has moved it because there is so much which is not understood about this Motion. This is the National Assembly of Kenya - it is not the Senate. We are not their children and their wishes cannot just come here the way they wish. You have rightly said that I am a Member of the Committee on Catering and Health Club Services. As you remember, from old days, it was a Committee that Members never wanted to join. They said that it was for cooks. You were here when a Member of Parliament was appointed to this Committee and he almost killed the then Speaker, Hon. Francis ole Kaparo. Then, we changed the mandate of the Committee to be about the general management of health and other issues of Parliament. At the outset, that particular Committee is “supposed to” manage the monies that are deducted from Members’ payslips every month for services rendered to Members of Parliament. I was in the Committee today. The Committee of Catering and Health Services is not opposed to have a joint Committee with the Senate because we are all served. So, we begin from there. We want the Senators to participate where catering services are being offered. We also want the Senators to participate where the health services and sports facilities are. This Motion as drafted seems to suggest that there is going to be an additional 29 Senators to join the Committee. This is what the Motion is suggesting. If it is management of Members’ funds, you begin by questioning first. There are 349 Members of the National Assembly and 67 Senators contributing. There cannot be equity. It cannot be equal numbers. So, this is a wrong Motion. Secondly, Members need to be advised that a letter - which I am going to table - was sent to the Committee by the so-called senior management of Parliament. This is a fund for Members of Parliament. The Catering Department, be it the restaurant, the bar or the gym, is a private Members’ club by these Members of the National Assembly. Some staff went and sat somewhere and saw sense to wind up a Committee chosen by Members of Parliament to manage Members of Parliament. In itself, it is absurd. This is a letter that is meant to subordinate Members of Parliament. They cannot write to us. They can come and present their wishes to a Committee of Members of Parliament."
}