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{
    "id": 592454,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/592454/?format=api",
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    "content": "Parliament. That means that they must be vetted by both the Senate and the National Assembly. That vetting does not have to be joint. The two Houses must vet. There has to be a provision that if one is vetted by one House and approved, but rejected by the other, then there is the usual mediation to see whether a middle ground can be found on the individual proposed for a certain position. The CBK Act provides very clearly, this House must have participated in the vetting of the Governor. Some of us may find it very convenient that the Governor was nominated by the President, who is from our coalition, and therefore, he has been vetted and placed in office thus they do not care. However, tomorrow the boot will be on the other foot. Justice Aaron Ringera used to teach us that if you want to test the goodness and safety of any law, imagine that law in the hands of your worst enemy. If you feel safe, then it is a good law. So, every law we pass, we must always think, for instance, you the distinguished Senator for Migori, if your most formidable opponent took hold of the sword, will you be safe? If so, then that is good. If by the same opponent picking the sword you have to leap across the border to Tanzania, then you know there is no safety. That is not a good law. We cannot endlessly blame the President for signing those Bills. We should blame the people who take the Bills to him. The President is looking after a country with a myriad of problems. However, he must also ensure that the Constitution is followed. That is why the Attorney General (AG) is there. He has heaped all manner of advisors in State House; advisors in law, education, and other sectors. They must advise him correctly. People who hold public offices and offer negligent and defective advice to their bosses must also be criminally culpable. They are paid to give good advice and make sure the law is followed. I know the Constitution has whittled down the office of the AG to what it is today. However, I would want to see the hand of the AG and his presence in the final product of the law. The only office with adequate capacity to research and advise on the constitutionality, morality and other values in Bills that come to this House, is the AG’s office. It is a public office paid for by your taxes and mine. I would like to see a situation where there is a nexus between the myriad of Bills coming to the House and the office of the AG. In the old regime, even when you brought a Motion and were allowed by the House to draft a private Member’s Bill, like the Constituency Development Fund Act of Sen. (Eng.) Muriuki and others that came---. If you had such an opportunity, that Bill was also gratuitously placed before then AG to give you some free advice. That is what we pay him for. In fact, if the AG’s office was working, some of these standoffs between the two Houses would not be there. It is an act of abdication. We want to see things working and functioning properly. If we pass this report, then we move on to the harder part, I would encourage my brother. Sen. Kiraitu, you, and all Senators, to then engage all the Members of The National Assembly from their jurisdiction, their parties, political formations---"
}