Entry Instance

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

{
    "id": 678145,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/678145/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 358,
    "type": "other",
    "speaker_name": "",
    "speaker_title": "",
    "speaker": null,
    "content": "Very briefly, I will do just a few highlights. The first one is what constitutes the precincts of Parliament, or rather to what space does this Bill apply. It applies to the Chambers in which proceedings of Parliament are conducted, including the galleries and the lobbies of the Chambers. It also includes all parts of the buildings in which the Chambers are situated, including the entrance, forecourts, yards, gardens, enclosures or open spaces are pertinent thereto. It also includes committee rooms and other meeting places used for parliamentary purposes. The offices of Parliament including the places within such offices that are provided for that are used by members of staff, the public and the press. That includes Continental House and any other house which houses offices for MPs and members of staff. There is also Protection House and many other places where parliamentary staff and MPs operate from. That would be part of Parliament for purposes of this Bill. It also includes places provided for the use or accommodation for the Members, members of the public and representatives of the press et cetera . In a nutshell, Parliament is broadly defined to cover any building, passage or corridor where Parliament conducts its business. This is done by either MPs themselves or even members of staff who work in Parliament. The other highlight I want to make is with regard to the provision that says that security officers may work within the precincts of Parliament with the authority of the Speaker for purposes of maintaining safety and order. This is found in Clause 4 of this Bill. Madam Temporary Speaker, Clause 6 talks about the freedom from arrests for Members during sessions or committee meetings. They are not supposed to be arrested even for civil matters. If there is a civil matter, arrests cannot be made within the precincts of Parliament. You must wait for that Member wherever and arrest them from wherever. We have had a few cases in the history of the Parliament of Kenya where arrests have been made inside Parliament. The first major case was in 1975 where Hon. Martin Shikuku and Hon. Jean-Marie Seroney were actually arrested from inside Parliament. That was a grave violation of parliamentary immunities and privileges. Another highlight is Clause 9 which deals with freedom of speech and debate for Members so that you are not held accountable in any way, whatsoever, for utterances that you make on the Floor of the House. The other highlights are Clauses 10 and 11 which provide that no proceedings of Parliament may be questioned before any court to immunise the proceedings of Parliament. Just for clarification, we are not saying that courts cannot question products of Parliament like legislation but courts cannot stop Parliament from legislating. What they can do is to, for example, declare a certain legislation that has already been made either unlawful or unconstitutional. We have had exchanges around this issue between Parliament and courts. I think it is almost clear that the courts are appreciating that separation of power does not empower courts to injunct Parliament. The latest case was the matter involving the impeachment of the Governor of Murang’a County where Justice Onguto clearly refused to injunct the Senate from proceeding with the impeachment and said that the courts cannot interfere with the workings of Parliament. 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"
}