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{
    "id": 648611,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/648611/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 337,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "Hon. Ababu",
    "speaker_title": "",
    "speaker": {
        "id": 108,
        "legal_name": "Ababu Tawfiq Pius Namwamba",
        "slug": "ababu-namwamba"
    },
    "content": "Hon. Speaker, we are a House of rules. I have just taken a few minutes to flip through the Regulations. It is actually surprising that they have already been gazetted without going through the process of delegated legislation that is established by this House. As far as the legal framework for the management of this fund is concerned, we have to take a fresh look at this matter. But I want to tell my colleagues in this House that the sibling rivalry between the National Assembly and the Senate must come to an end at some point. Even the rivalry between siblings ends at some point and you actually become more of partners than rivals in the family. Parliament, as established in the Constitution of this Republic, is constituted by the National Assembly where we sit and the Senate. We are a twin Chamber of the same Parliament. The Senate has some very substantive and important responsibilities, among those responsibilities is oversight. We have a serious problem in counties. One of the contributors to the challenge of accountability in the counties is the ineffectiveness of county assemblies to effectively oversee the work of governors. All these governors have run amok and are spending money like there is no tomorrow. The Senate can be a very effective deterrent to this culture that has been established in counties. Let us stop putting hurdles in the path of Senators and the Senate in their oversight role. It is true that we should strengthen these Regulations. It is important that these Regulations go through the process established by the Statutory Instruments Act, but we must make a commitment that we will allow the Senate to access resources for them to effectively undertake their oversight mandate. This is not being nice. It is about the truth. It is about being factual. We have emasculated the Senate. We have made it difficult for the Senate to undertake its responsibilities because of this unnecessary sibling rivalry. What war do we have with the Senate? If the Senate plays its role effectively as an agency of oversight in the counties, what do you lose as Members of this House? Let us strengthen the Regulations. However, let us allow the Senate to get the resources they need to play their oversight role."
}