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{
    "id": 665827,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/665827/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 349,
    "type": "other",
    "speaker_name": "",
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    "speaker": null,
    "content": "I am, therefore, humbled and privileged to have been part of the audience to the Chief Justice, on behalf of the people of Kenya, particularly the people of Tharaka-Nithi whom I represent in this House. The Chief Justice has appreciated the fact that institutional collaboration is important. I think that it is a high point. This country is hurting and struggling, and the bottom line around our country’s problems is relationships. How we relate to each other as individuals, institutions, families and communities has not been so well. That is a point that I have carried home personally as a leader in the capacity that I serve. We need to encourage collaboration among and within institutions and at other levels. Mr. Speaker, Sir, the retiring Chief Justice is a man I respect a lot not only for his academic prowess but also for his simplicity and his humility. He is a very accomplished Kenyan but you would mistake him to be an ordinary man if you met him on the streets of Nairobi. He looks like an average Kenyan yet he is well read but a man of immense humility and simplicity. In fact, many expected him to come in style as the leadership in this country has been known for. However, he walked in very simply. I remember asking an officer in my office to look out for the Chief Justice because he might walk in with his laptop unnoticed yet I wanted to be part of the entourage to receive him. The Chief Justice has reminded us that it is expected and perhaps encouraged that there will be disagreements among our institutions yet we must have a way of resolving those issues. In his conclusion, he gave us a solution which I fully support. The way forward for this House is not to engage in juvenile attacks on other people or institutions that we may not be happy with, but through engagement. He gave examples where even engagement between us and the Judiciary has yielded fruits. I know that we have had mixed success in our relationship with the Judiciary. For example, we have lost important cases especially on the matter of the impeachment of the Governor of Embu County. That was sad jurisprudence. Until now, I have not reconciled myself with the intellectual rationale behind that decision. I think that it is flawed. However, the Chief Justice has counseled that we must learn to live with the decisions of legitimate institutions that we might be unhappy with. Mr. Speaker, Sir, we have lost in that front especially the painful injunction that this House suffered which in my view, I still believe is an illegal and unlawful affront on the sovereignty of the people who may exercise that sovereignty directly or through their representatives. We must also celebrate a number of decisions that the Judiciary has made and have helped this House claim its space and become more visible. I would like to give two examples. One, the matter which reaffirmed the power of this House to hold governors accountable by summoning them before the Committee that was ably chaired by Sen. (Dr.) Khalwale and currently by Sen. (Prof.) Anyang'- Nyong'o. Mr. Speaker, Sir, there was an injunction. Although I do not believe that the Judiciary can injunct a House of Parliament, it can only declare what Parliament has done constitutional or not. Be that as it may, the decision that eventually unlocked that impasse and said that Senators have power to summon governors and those governors must appear before the Senate is a landmark decision in our favour that correctly stated the law. 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"
}