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{
    "id": 617447,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/617447/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 54,
    "type": "other",
    "speaker_name": "",
    "speaker_title": "",
    "speaker": null,
    "content": "That is a day that we will not forget in Siaya. I hope that you will have another opportunity to come. You must have noticed that the decorum and the way business was being conducted at Siaya County Assembly was mature. That is a reflection of what even this Senate should be. To that extent, the process of going back to the counties and county assemblies is mutually beneficial, both to the Senate and the county assemblies. Mr. Speaker, Sir, finally, I appreciate the first decision you made during the First Session of going to the Supreme Court which I do not want to say much about as of now. Probably, we will get another time to talk about the Supreme Court. You took the courageous decision to go to the Supreme Court for an advisory opinion in relation to the process or procedure for enacting legislation in Parliament, and more particularly, Article 110(3) of the Constitution. In the advisory opinion, it seemed to be the opinion of the Supreme Court that it is very difficult to conceive of any issue that does not concern counties, be it security or any matter that concerns the national Government. If you examine any functions or matters that come to Parliament, you will always come to the conclusion that there is an element of county interests or matters that affect counties in many of the Bills that go to the National Assembly. In this regard, I beg you again – in this Fourth Session – to have a proper meeting with the Speaker of the National Assembly together with the Leadership, so that when there is agreement and concurrence under Article 110(3) of the Constitution, there would be some level of accountability, where we will know our Speaker was properly consulted in accordance with the Constitution. There should also be a paper trail because accountability is very important in this new constitutional dispensation. Otherwise, people may begin to develop the notion that the Senate is not all that important. What I understood from the advisory opinion of the Supreme Court was that this Senate has a very important function. In some of the trips you have taken us to – including Japan and Russia, the former Soviet Union, in north and south, new and old democracies – whether it is written in the constitution or not, the Senate eventually is an insurance policy for any republic. To that effect, there is quality control, even in funds, where the Senate understandably has a peripheral role on any Bill or matter that appears before the national legislature. However, they emphasised to us that when there is an important issue that requires some detail--- In fact, when it is not quite political, it will end up in the Senate. This issue may not seem to be very important as we deal with it now, because the politics of it may burry the importance of this important institution. But in order to build for the future, I urge you, the Senate Minority Leader and the Senate Majority Leader, to have some conversation with the leadership of the National Assembly. I do not expect difficulties in this new Fourth Session regarding Article 110(3) of the Constitution, regarding what concerns counties and what does not. We are very clear that your word is final. According to my interpretation of Article 110(3), so long as the matter has come to you and you have concurred, it ends there. However, for the interest of posterity, we need some paper trail and accountability so that we can rest satisfied that the Senate is not being taken for granted. I thank you. The electronic version of the Senate Hansard Report is for information purposes"
}