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{
    "id": 670098,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/670098/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 282,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "Hon. Lati",
    "speaker_title": "",
    "speaker": {
        "id": 2762,
        "legal_name": "Jonathan Lelelit Lati",
        "slug": "jonathan-lelelit-lati"
    },
    "content": "Thank you, Hon. Temporary Deputy Speaker, for this opportunity. I rise to support the Bill at the risk of getting some backlash. I want to support this Bill based on what I have seen in this House and the county assemblies in Kenya. I do not support the view that you must have a degree. However, for you to perform your oversight role, legislate and represent, you must have, at least, a minimum qualification. If the minimum qualification requires that you be a Form Four leaver, so be it. If you are to legislate, oversee and represent, but you cannot even read the nomination certificate of the party that has nominated you, then there is something wrong. Everything in this House, starting with the Order Paper, is written in English. If we were to take away the requirement of education, we should have a qualification that states that a Member should be able to read two paragraphs of English. We are doing a great disservice to our people by assuming that since you can win an election because most of the people are illiterate, you can come to this House yet you cannot even read an Order Paper. You can go to a county assembly and not be able to read the Order Paper. With the kind of money we send to county assemblies of about Kshs20 billion, we must have people who are able to oversee governors. Oversight begins with being able to read what is in reports. There is a story going round about a certain county which I will not mention that one MCA, who has never been to school, sat in the county assembly for one year. Once in a while, the Speaker would pronounce that they did not have quorum and the House would be adjourned. At some point, having heard the Speaker say that severally, she asked one of her friends why the person called quorum does not come to the House. Why is that person disturbing the Speaker? If there are people who do not even know what the Speaker meant when he said there was no quorum after sitting in the county assembly for one year, then we have a problem. We sit here as Members of Parliament not for free. We earn salaries. There must be a salary evaluation for every job in Kenya including for Members of Parliament. As The electronic version of the Official Hansard Report is for information purposesonly. A certified version of this Report can be obtained from the Hansard Editor."
}