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{
    "id": 587281,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/587281/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 54,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "Sen. Kembi-Gitura",
    "speaker_title": "The Deputy Speaker",
    "speaker": {
        "id": 242,
        "legal_name": "James Kembi Gitura",
        "slug": "kembi-gitura"
    },
    "content": " Yesterday, I did allude to the fact that we are following a presidential system of Government. So, a statement that is rendered in this House technically is a statement by the Chairman of the Committee and not anybody else. That is the system that we are following. In the parliamentary system, the Ministers stood out on the Government side and gave statements in that capacity. But, currently, as far as I am concerned, unless the person seeking the statement raises the issues themselves, that they are not satisfied for one reason or another, I do not believe that the Speaker has a right to look behind the Chairman of a Committee issuing a Statement, because that is the proper position under the Constitution under the Presidential system. These technical issues may be useful for veracity and other things, but at the end of the day, the person that we will hold responsible for the statement is not the Cabinet Secretary. It is the Chairperson of the Committee because he or she is the one authorized under the Constitution to deal with those issues. So, if Sen. Madzayo had stood here and issued a Statement without telling us that it is from National Health Insurance Fund (NHIF) and not signed, he takes the responsibility as the Committee Chair. That is the way I would understand it. But having said that, on the current issue, the Statement that is in front of me now is signed by somebody on behalf of the Cabinet Secretary, Anne Waiguru, OGW. If we insist that the Cabinet Secretary and nobody else must sign everything, it will pose technical issues. I can see many people are seeking the Floor."
}