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{
    "id": 599704,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/599704/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 104,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "Hon. Ng’ongo",
    "speaker_title": "",
    "speaker": {
        "id": 110,
        "legal_name": "John Mbadi Ng'ong'o",
        "slug": "john-mbadi"
    },
    "content": "“Either House of Parliament, and any of its committees, has power to summon any person to appear before it for the purpose of giving evidence or providing information”. Hon. Speaker, the elephant in the room is whether this “any person” includes the heads of the arms of Government and that does not include the CJ. I am not trying to scare you, Hon. Speaker because I know you know very well that while sitting as the Chairman of the PSC, you must exercise prudence and clear financial management. As you make this ruling, you should also consider that one time this “any person” may be the Speaker of the National Assembly, who is also the Chairman of the PSC. I remember sometime back the Budget and Appropriations Committee invited the PSC and the Speaker, who is the Chairman to appear before us. He explained the Budget Estimates to us. I do not know whether we made a mistake. You are a head of an arm of Government that directly oversees the operations of Parliament and the welfare of the Members of Parliament. I want to talk about two things as we ask for your guidance. I read in the newspapers about things that the CJ said which I agree with. I do not want to go that way because those are media reports. I agree with them that I am a Member of that Committee and there are things that more Members of the Committee felt should be done differently from the way I thought and I had to go with the majority. It is not true that we do not provide the CJ an opportunity as Hon. (Eng.) Gumbo has elaborated. Initially, the CJ wanted to be the first one to appear. We told him to hold on and appear later. At that time, we were inviting him as the Chairman of the JSC. Later on, other members and the Registrar appeared before us, and we realized we were not only going to interrogate the CJ as the head of the JSC, but also on issues he was mentioned as an individual. Therefore, we had to interrogate him as the Head of the JSC and as an individual. As Hon. (Eng.) Gumbo has read out, issues started getting complicated. In a letter dated 30th June, 2014, and with all due respect to the CJ, I regret to observe that he was trying to direct Parliament on how to conduct its business, which I think was unfortunate. He cannot tell us he has already taken action and, therefore, he cannot be questioned. I do not think that is the point. The point is that we gave him some resources as the JSC at one point, and during that time we had issues with those resources. Could he come forward and explain a few things? He cannot tell us that because he has changed, there are no issues and no more theft; that we should not ask about the theft that occurred. We are not debating the report. As a person, I wish the CJ appeared before us. In my view, if he appeared before us, probably we would have had a different report. I am certain we could have had a different report. As I conclude, I would like to ask that as you make this determination, it is important that you exercise your mandate and tell the people of Kenya whether the heads of the arms of Government are immune to parliamentary investigation and interrogation. Thank you, Hon. Speaker."
}