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{
    "id": 591938,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/591938/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 450,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "Hon. Keynan",
    "speaker_title": "",
    "speaker": {
        "id": 41,
        "legal_name": "Adan Wehliye Keynan",
        "slug": "adan-keynan"
    },
    "content": "Thank you, Hon. Temporary Deputy Chairman. I want to seek the attention of the Members because this is a very important clause. First of all, it is a reality that Members of Parliament being State officers must also subject themselves to thorough scrutiny just like any other State officer. Having said that, there are critical issues that are already provided for within the Leadership and Integrity Act and the Ethics and Anti-Corruption Act. We are also making provisions on how to deal with issues related to Members of Parliament. I want to go on record and oppose this New Clause for the following reason. I want each and every Member to listen to this. We are not in any way in a popularity contest. What we are legislating for is for posterity. If we allow the inclusion of this particular clause, I want to tell you the following is what will happen. This is what the hon. Member for Turkana is proposing on behalf of a certain group: “There is established the Office of Standards and Ethics in each House of Parliament as an office in the Parliamentary Service.” What they are trying to say is: Parliament shall employ a person who has the same qualification as a High Court judge. That employee will be vetted by committees and approved by the House. You cannot sack that person. What that person will do is to go round looking for information on Members of Parliament, interrogate the same and make a finding whether really that Member of Parliament has breached any law. This is totally unacceptable. What I am proposing under a new clause called the Fourth Schedule is to empower the Speakers of either Houses, through the Powers and Privileges Committee, to deal with all issues pertaining to Members of Parliament. I believe in all civilised parliamentary jurisdictions; in the United Kingdom (UK), there is an Ethics Committee which is equivalent to the Powers and Privileges Committee."
}