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{
    "id": 609948,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/609948/?format=api",
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    "content": "continue fighting as institutions of Parliament, then we see a situation where even bad governance and a creeping sense of authoritarianism that we are witnessing in the country, there will be no other institution to check it. When we bring the Judiciary in the mix, there will be nobody awake to police and to watch over the Executive. I, therefore, call for soberness amongst my colleagues. I have some very strong comments coming up. A fight with a mad man never ends well especially for the sane party because at the end of it, it is very difficult to tell who is mad and who is not mad. I do not want us to get into a situation where we characterize the National Assembly as a House of mad men. There are men and women of good stature and there are men and women who mean very well for this country in that National Assembly. I, therefore, pray that even the report that is going to come out of this House will not be a report where Senators declare war but a report that talks about the Senate seeking ground so that it can play its constitutional mandate. Mr. Temporary Speaker, Sir, a lot has been said about the Reverend who chairs the Budget and Appropriations Committee of the National Assembly to the effect where he has been called the “Wrong” Reverend rather than the Right Reverend. Growing up in the 1990s and about ten years ago, we had hope that as a leader of the National Council of Churches of Kenya (NCCK), this would be a prime candidate for the presidency to rule this nation. It is surprising what power does to straight and good meaning people. Power corrupts. I do not know whether being in the Jubilee Government also destroys because the person that we see today is not the person that we idolized when we were student leaders back in the years. There are many other good men and women in the National Assembly and we should not throw them out as we talk about some of these things that are coming up. The establishment of a Select Committee is long overdue. In my view, we have allowed the CORD Coalition and the Council of Governors to proceed with their “ Okoa Kenya” and the Pesa Mashinani initiatives because of the inaction of this Senate. They say that he who feels it, knows it. The Senate knows the frustration that we go through in executing our mandate or being the defenders and protectors of devolution. I would have expected that by now, the Senate would have come up with solid recommendations on how to strengthen this institution. Therefore, this is long overdue and I support it. I only urge that this Select Committee will come up with actionable recommendations. The question would be that if the select committee comes up with the report, then what next? I also expect that we will be very clear on the perimeter of their mandate. Is this Select Committee going to get back the Kshs1 billion that we lost? Is it going to ensure that the Judiciary also gets the money they lost and that the SRC also gets the money they lost? Is this Select Committee going to review the entire budget making process to come up with recommendations on how the Senate can be an effective partner and have a constitutional role in it? Is it going to look at the role of the Senate as stated in Article 96 in totality or is it going to look at the entire Constitution and come up with recommendations for constitutional and legislative amendments? That needs to be very clear as we set up this Select Committee. We also need to manage perceptions of selfishness. There are those who feel that had we not been denied the Kshs1 billion, we would not be here but out in the field 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."
}