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{
    "id": 572003,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/572003/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 304,
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    "content": "and Privileges can actually recommend vacation from office; it is that serious. That is one of the grounds you can lose your seat, through Chapter Six. Mr. Temporary Speaker, Sir, I just overheard that it is hoped that the powers will not be disused. That has been taken care of and that is why there is a Committee. It is not a one person thing. Also, the decision of the Committee has to be approved by the House. So, one person who does not like the Senator for Nyamira cannot sit and decide that he should disappear and cause him to leave his seat. There is a bit of protection of the members of the public which was not there in the old law. A member of the public who is aggrieved by a remark or statement that has been made by a Member of the National Assembly or Member of the Senate using the immunities and privileges of Parliament, has a right to write to the Clerk to respond. The Speaker may direct that, that response be documented in a journal or be part of records of Parliament. In this case, the Speaker may direct how that is done, but the whole idea here is to avoid a situation where Members of Parliament abuse parliamentary privileges to attack people who do not have a forum or right to respond. If somebody, for instance, uses the Floor of Parliament to say that so-and-so is corrupt or has done this and that, the aggrieved person can write to the Clerk and the Speaker, in appropriate cases, may direct that the response from that person be made public and part of the records of the House, to protect the public from abuse or immunities and privileges. Mr. Temporary Speaker, Sir, I want to conclude by highlighting the two major things that this Bill brings. First is to recognize that now we have a bicameral Parliament and, therefore, we cannot continue to be governed by Cap.6 which deals with the National Assembly only. The second thing that the Bill does is to make sure that it recognizes public participation by allowing the public to interact with the Houses of Parliament, but within certain bounds of decorum, so that we do not have a chaotic encounter between the people and their representatives. The Bill also tries to instill discipline so that Members who enjoy these immunities, privileges and protection do not abuse those privileges to hurt other people or even break the law. Finally, the Bill makes sure that Parliament is immune from interference and when Members are conducting their parliamentary duties, they are free from intimidation. In fact, if you look at Clause 13, it says that even in criminal matters, no Member can be arrested when they are suspected of committing a crime, when they are travelling to attend a sitting of Parliament or a Committee of Parliament, when they are actually in that sitting or returning from that sitting. That immunity extends to that respect. Through this Bill, we can urgently put in place a good mechanism which is accountable and transparent, but also protects Members of Parliament from intrusion by others. It also makes Members of Parliament accountable to the electorate by conducting themselves in a manner that respects the precincts and functions of Parliament. Mr. Temporary Speaker, Sir, with those many remarks, I beg to move and request the Senator for Nyamira to second. 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."
}