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{
    "id": 605276,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/605276/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 355,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "Sen. Orengo",
    "speaker_title": "",
    "speaker": {
        "id": 129,
        "legal_name": "Aggrey James Orengo",
        "slug": "james-orengo"
    },
    "content": "Mr. Temporary Speaker, Sir, I begin, first of all, by thanking the team of Sen. Kagwe, Sen. Elachi and Sen. (Dr.) Khalwale for the wonderful job they did when we had a stalemate on the question of division of revenue. I also thank, hon. T.J. Kajwang’, a Member of the National Assembly, not for remaining firm and supporting the team from the Senate but because he was doing right for the country. I hope that the spirit of bipartisanship which our team demonstrated when they went for negotiations will colour other businesses that we will deal with in the Senate. Mr. Temporary Speaker, Sir, as a starting point, Sen. Kagwe gave me an idea that I do not want to take for granted. He said that some people are talking of scrapping off the Senate and he thought that that was a wild idea. I want to convince him that it may not be a wild idea because there was once a Senate and it was scrapped off in broad daylight. There was a Senate and Parliament that felt that it was necessary to scrap off the Senate. They did not only scrap off the Senate but also abolished regional governments. An imperial presidency was established. The eight or nine regional governments that were in existence at that time were no more. Therefore, Mr. Temporary Speaker, Sir, when somebody in leadership in the National Assembly says that they will scrap the Senate, I do not take it as an idle engagement or a joke. We must be prepared for this new threat to devolution. Indeed, historically, the narrative has not just been about the Senate. You will remember that there was a time when the former President, the late Mzee Jomo Kenyatta and others were in detention. During that time, people said that when we become free, nobody, man or woman of this country, will ever be detained. Within three years of the Independence Government, it was not just those who were enemies of the freedom fighters who were detained. They sent each other, amongst themselves, to detention. Over the next five or six years, more than 20 national leaders went into detention. Another wild idea came that Kenya is too busy to have a multiparty system and, therefore, it only needed one party. It took an afternoon in the National Assembly to get rid of other political parties. Subsequently, again, it took less than an hour for the The electronic version of the Senate Hansard Report is for information purposes only. A certified version of this Report can be obtained from the Hansard Editor, Senate."
}