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{
    "id": 617454,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/617454/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 61,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "Sen. Wetangula",
    "speaker_title": "February 9, 2016 SENATE DEBATES 10 The Senate Minority Leader",
    "speaker": {
        "id": 210,
        "legal_name": "Moses Masika Wetangula",
        "slug": "moses-wetangula"
    },
    "content": " Thank you, Mr. Speaker, Sir. Allow me to wish you and all my colleagues a happy new year. As we start this Fourth Session, I hope we will have a more consultative approach to handling our business, be more interactive and less adversarial so that we can pursue our legislative agenda for the benefit of the counties that we represent and the country at large. Definitely, the Senate has weathered many storms starting from the challenge as to our relevance, moving on to the need for this House to be appreciated as a legislative arm of Government and more importantly, the continuing lack of harmony – so to speak – between our House and the “Lower House”. I had hoped, right from the word “go”, that the Speakers of the National Assembly and the Senate, having been elected from the same side of the coalition, would bring incredible harmony in the running of the business so that we have a seamless flow of business and that we would appreciate each other a lot more. Unfortunately, it has not been the case. I hope that this time round, there will be some visible change. Mr. Speaker, Sir, equally important is to caution ourselves against the temptation for this House to conduct itself – from time to time – as if it is an extension of the Executive. Our duty as the Legislature is to oversight the Executive.Sometimes it is disheartening for this House to start conducting itself as if we represent the interests of the Executive in the Senate. In the history of this country – I do not know if you or any of my colleagues have been following – there has never been such a large number of cases in the courts challenging the constitutionality and validity of legislation as we have now. This is very telling to both Houses. It is an indictment to some extent that we have probably been veering off the beaten track in our legislative programmes. The distinguished Senator for Siaya, Sen. Wako, other lawyers and I are in court challenging a legislation passed by our own House. I am referring to the events of 16th December, 2015 where we felt that we did not do the right thing. Painfully, Sen. Orengo, Sen. Wako and I have gone to court to challenge a Bill passed by this House with the belief that it is unconstitutional and that the court will hear us fairly.These are things that should not happen if there is adequate consultation and attention to what we are doing as Parliament. Luckily when we went to court, our lead team lawyer, Sen. Orengo, was asked: “Where were you?” He produced the HANSARD that acquitted us to show that when it was time to speak, we did not keep quiet and the court has seen that as part of the challenge. Mr. Speaker, Sir, as we move to the Session that we must define our relevance even more, I encourage you to engage the Speaker of the National Assembly a lot more to remind him that legislative business is not his personal agenda but that of the nation and where the law requires you to consult and determine issues that come to the House, it is not left to his or anybody’s discretion. It is for you to obey and adhere to what the law and the Constitution say so that we can move in a more systematic manner. Finally, this House has also gone through challenges in our relationship with governors. Towards the end of the last Session, I was quite happy to see quite a number of governors willingly coming to submit themselves to scrutiny by the Senate County Public Accounts and Investments Committee (CPAIC). This is as it should be because The electronic version of the Senate Hansard Report is for information purposes"
}