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{
    "id": 663264,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/663264/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 245,
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    "content": "“The High Court has jurisdiction in accordance with Article 165, to hear and determine applications for redress of a denial, violation or infringement of, or a threat to”. You actually do not need to violate it. If I suspect that you are about to threaten my right of information, I have a right to go to the High Court. If you threaten my right to picket and demonstrate, not stop but threaten it, I have a right to go to the High Court and seek an order to enforce that right. Kenyans must clap for themselves for passing a very progressive Constitution. I am happy to be seconding this Bill because gone are the days when somebody would be fired from the Civil Service and they send you home with a one liner stating: “You are hereby dismissed.” They do not tell you why or give you the verdict and they do not care. Similarly, when they deny you your pay, again they write a one-line statement stating that your appeal is hereby denied and you are free to leave. This Act will not allow that. Gone are the days that people were not entitled to information. A person will be entitled to the reason why they are denied information. They may want to know under what basis you made that decision and the procedure is clearly stipulated here. It enforces a law that we passed here which did not find any objections at the National Assembly. It is called The Fair Administrative Action Act which is in line with Article 47 of the Constitution. If a person requests for information, he or she should be given unless that information is prohibited under Clause 6. Mr. Temporary Speaker, Sir, there is a condition here and I want to highlight it. It says that that information shall not be given to you unless it can cause substantial harm to the ability of the Government to manage the economy of Kenya. When this Bill comes for Second Reading and public participation, I will recommend to my committee that this is extremely ambiguous. If Kenyans wanted to know about, for example, the famous or infamous scandal on Eurobond and then somebody tells them that that information cannot be given because it will cause substantial harm to the Government to manage the economy, that cannot be a condition to deny information. Clause 6 of this Bill gives an exception and conditions. Mr. Temporary Speaker, Sir, this Bill is interesting. That is why it was developed in my committee. Despite anything contained above, the conditions I have said regarding foreign relations and security et cetera, a public entity or private body may be required to disclose information where the public interest in disclosure outweighs the harm to protect interest as shall be determined by the court. So, the law has opened a small window. Where the national Government says it will not give a person information or documents on Eurobond, the court, under Article 165, can interrogate and ask the fundamental question whether the public good outweighs what is a limiting condition in this Bill. This is a beautiful legislation. It goes ahead in Clause 6(6)(a) on Page 15 to give those conditions. Mr. Temporary Speaker, Sir, the law requires that 30 per cent of budgets be given to the groups represented by Sen. Kanainza and others. These are Persons with Disability (PWDs), the youth and women. If you go to our county governments and ask which PWDs, youth or women have been given contracts, chances are that that information is 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"
}