Entry Instance

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

{
    "id": 674813,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/674813/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 159,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "Hon. Oyugi",
    "speaker_title": "",
    "speaker": {
        "id": 444,
        "legal_name": "Augostinho Neto Oyugi",
        "slug": "augostinho-neto-oyugi"
    },
    "content": "Thank you, Hon. Temporary Deputy Speaker. I am happy I am speaking after my boss, Hon. Member for Ol Jorok. He sets a very good tone for me to pick from. Let us appreciate that the county assemblies are very important units within the Constitution of Kenya 2010. County governments take charge of all devolution units and devolved functions. Some of them are good, important and cardinal in the realisation of various rights under the Constitution. One of the fundamental rights is under Article 43 of the Constitution. It is the right to economic and social rights. It is a key function of the county assemblies. Everything else, be they civic and political rights, are pegged on and geared on the rights in Article 43. It means the capacity of the county assemblies ought to be such strong that whatever legislation comes under them are things that give life to the various provisions in the Constitution. Having said that, it simply shows that the county assemblies ought to be treated with a bit more seriousness. Let me start by saying that the person who did this draft Bill did not do a lot of very good justice. We debated a Bill called the Senate and the National Assembly Powers and Privileges Bill. It is cut and paste legislation. I think the person who drafted this Bill did a Melanie Trump on Michelle Obama’s speech plagiarism. You have to do justifiable issues by trying to be original in terms of drafting legislation. Whereas the Bill gives very important provisions, it also has provisions that are very unconstitutional. Clause 7 of this Bill speaks to the fact that the county assembly speaker can, for example, designate spaces for picketing and demonstrations. That goes counter to Article 37 of the Constitution. Article 24 of the Constitution says that fundamental freedoms and rights are not absolute, but the manner of limiting rights cannot be the manner that Clause 7(4) of this Bill provides. You cannot limit the fundamental right to picket under Article 37 in such a cavalier manner that takes away the core content of the right. The person who drafted this Bill ought to have taken into consideration that it is possible, for example, to protect the privileges of Members of County Assemblies (MCAs) in the same manner of protecting Members of the National Assembly, but you cannot do that by taking away the core content of the right to picket, which provides that I can picket where I want and how I want so long as I pass the message I want to pass. There is something that I do not understand. The drafter in Clause 9 says something very dangerous. I do not understand what he wants to say in this clause. Article 193 of the Constitution gives academic qualifications or otherwise. In Clause 9, the drafter tries to limit Article 193 of the Constitution by subjecting it to several other things, unless it is subject to review. I have never seen this in my life of drafting. If you permit me, Article 193(2) of the Constitution reads as follows:- 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."
}