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{
    "id": 618318,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/618318/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 110,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "Hon. Ng’ongo",
    "speaker_title": "",
    "speaker": {
        "id": 110,
        "legal_name": "John Mbadi Ng'ong'o",
        "slug": "john-mbadi"
    },
    "content": "Let me take this opportunity, first, to wish the substantive Speaker, the rest of the Speakers Panel and my colleagues a Happy 2016. My Whip is distracting me. I know 2016 is going to be a very busy year for those of us who want to seek re-election and I am sure over 90 percent of the Members in this House want to come back to this House, be Senators or even governors. I want to contribute to the Procedural Motion very briefly. First of all, I want to support this Motion. In my discussion with Hon. Kaluma, we were just arguing whether a Member requires 60 minutes to move a Motion on a report of a committee. I was telling him that some committee reports are very detailed and of such significance and importance that it requires proper canvassing for the Members to be persuaded to vote either way. For committee reports, especially where a committee has done a thorough job in terms of investigation or even reports of Committees like the PAC or the PIC which come once in a year or half yearly. This requirement is, therefore, good. I only want to make a contribution with regards to the time allocated to Members to speak on reports or Bills. We need to ask ourselves very difficult questions. This House is going to be on record as the House that has legislated and passed Bills which have been challenged in court in record time. Hon. Temporary Deputy Speaker, for the first time in the history of this country, many Acts of Parliament have been challenged in courts on matters of constitutionality. The worst part of it is that the verdict of the courts has been to the detriment of this House in terms of indicting us and in terms of quality. My plea to Members of this House is that it does not matter how many Members speak to a Bill. What matters is the quality of that debate. It is high time that two things are done. The first one is that the Speakers Panel and the Speaker on the Chair needs to look at the subject matter of debates and use his discretion at times to decide on which Members can speak to a Bill to enrich debate on those Bills, and also enrich the Committee of the whole House in terms of contribution. If it is a matter that touches on legal issues, however much experienced I am and however eloquent I may be, I would not compare myself, for example, to Hon. Kajwang’ or Hon. Opondo Kaluma who are lawyers by profession. But when it comes to matters of economics and finance, again, my colleagues cannot match my depth in understanding. So, that is my plea."
}