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{
    "id": 574813,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/574813/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 196,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "Hon. (Eng.) Gumbo",
    "speaker_title": "",
    "speaker": {
        "id": 24,
        "legal_name": "Nicholas Gumbo",
        "slug": "nicholas-gumbo"
    },
    "content": "(i) The purpose of the tour. (ii) The benefits of the tour to the country and the Kenyan public at large. (iii) The number of Government officials who accompanied the Deputy President, their identities and positions. (iv) The criteria used by the Office of the Deputy President in determining the Members of the National Assembly who accompanied him namely, Hon. Yusuf Chanzu and Hon. Alice Ng’ang’a. (v) Whether the Speaker sanctioned the travel of the two Members of the National Assembly. (vi) The procurement process for the hire of the aircraft. (vii) The Government policy on air travel by the Deputy President. (viii) The cost of the tour for both the Deputy President and his entourage. The Leader of the Majority Party issued a statement in the House on 22nd May, 2013 and from the ensuing debate, the Hon. Speaker directed that the matter be referred to PAC for an in-depth investigation and subsequent report to be given back to the House. The Committee made a request for a special audit vide a letter dated 24th May, 2013. The Auditor-General completed the special audit on 25th September, 2013. It was subsequently tabled in the House by the Leader of the Majority Party on 3rd October, 2013. The Committee held a total of 11 sittings in the investigation of this matter and tabled its Report on the Floor of the House on 23rd April, 2014. I wish to express my deep gratitude to the leadership of the House for finally bringing this matter to the House. The Committee has on several occasions expressed concern at the delay in allocating time for the Report to be debated before the House. From the evidence and sworn testimonies, the Committee made the following findings and conclusions, inter alia : (i) The Deputy President undertook the tour on behalf of the President of the Republic of Kenya in his official capacity as the President’s Principal Assistant as provided for under Article 147 of the Constitution. (ii) The President verbally instructed the Deputy President to take the tour. This, in the view of the Committee, was contrary to Article 135 of the Constitution, which requires the President to convey all decisions he makes in respect of performance of any of his functions of State in writing. (iii) The purpose of the trip to the said four countries was ostensibly for the Deputy President to seek their backing for Kenya’s agenda at the African Union (AU) Summit of Heads of State that was scheduled on 26th and 27th May, 2013 in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. (iv) It is difficult to conclusively determine the ultimate beneficial value of the tour to the Kenyan taxpayer since there is no evidence indicating how exactly the four African countries he visited lobbied for Kenya’s case at the Addis Ababa Summit. A The electronic version of the Official Hansard Report is for information purposesonly. A certified version of this Report can be obtained from the Hansard Editor."
}