Entry Instance

HTTP 200 OK
Allow: GET, PUT, PATCH, DELETE, HEAD, OPTIONS
Content-Type: application/json
Vary: Accept

{
    "id": 669358,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/669358/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 117,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "Sen. (Prof.) Anyang'-Nyong'o",
    "speaker_title": "",
    "speaker": {
        "id": 193,
        "legal_name": "Peter Anyang' Nyong'o",
        "slug": "peter-nyongo"
    },
    "content": "Mr. Speaker, Sir, thank you very much for the solid Communication from the Chair. I would like to underscore that the incident that took place in our Committee involving our colleague was an isolated incident. The actions that you and the Committee took demonstrate clearly that isolated incident should not lead to a generalized form of behavior that the governors fear. Therefore, that matter can be put to rest. The other issue that I would like to be put to rest is that of saying that since certain Senators have expressed interest in running for the governors’ positions, they are not in a position to fulfill their roles as Senators, including in Committees like ours which involves accountability by the governors. So far, we have known that in public life, one has to be prepared to play many roles and that is part of civility. Therefore, unless somebody feels that civility is not there in public life, I think that is a wrong assumption. Mr. Speaker, Sir, secondly, even if some Senators have expressed interest, it is not a fact that they will vie for that position. One has to wait until the bell rings for declaration and commitment to running for any position. In any case, even in the United States of America (USA), we have witnessed situations where Senators run for presidency, but they are recalled back to the Senate to play their roles as Senators. Therefore, it is a wrong assumption that is so. I would like to give an example, if your daughter declares that she is going to get married and she is betrothed to a young man, you tell your daughter, now that she is interested in playing a similar role to her mother, she is not entitled to make any comments about the relationship between me and her mother because she is now an interested party to that entitlement. Therefore, it is completely wrong for the governors to think that once Senators declare their intention, they are immediately assumed to be in conflict with the governor’s interest. What is important is to look at the facts. Except for the incident by Sen. Sonko, whether there has been any kind of ocular proof that Senators have abused their positions in these Committees. As far as I am concerned, we have behaved very civilly and fulfilled our roles in line with the law. Therefore, excuses should not be adduced by the governors who know – and most of them who are vocal on this – that they are in trouble with the Auditor-General because they have already seen the audited accounts of their counties that implicate them in serious issues of accountability and transparency. Mr. Speaker, Sir, I beg to support your Communication."
}