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"content": "Mr. Speaker, Sir, in the case of Murang’a County, the governor rushed to court and it declined to issue any injunctions. That is also what has happened in the present case. The governor had gone to court, but it declined yesterday to grant any injunction. The Court’s position is very clear; that it believes, now and even in the time of the Murang’a County impeachment process, that the rights of all parties, including the accused and those who bring the charges – in this case the Assembly – will be upheld because the Senate is not a lynch mob. The Judiciary should be encouraged to continue interpreting the law in the correct manner. Secondly, Standing Order 61 of our Standing Orders presupposes that the House can proceed through either a special Committee, like in the proposed Motion, or by way of Plenary. That option remains open and it is upon Senators to decide how best this House thinks that this matter can be adjudicated upon. Thirdly, I assure the country, specifically the people of Nyeri County, that this House has the requisite experience, expertise and sobriety to do justice as quickly as possible, to ensure the people of Nyeri Country continue enjoying the advantages of their Government and the facilities of the county government as enshrined in the Constitution and the law. In any case, the County Governments Act, as well as the Constitution, has provided very strict timelines. Therefore, within the next two weeks or so, this matter, one way or the other, should be behind us. This impeachment process is a quasi-judicial process. I believe that both parties, in this case, the Assembly and the Governor of Nyeri County, will be accorded a fair hearing. In the event that this Motion is approved, they will be given time to be listened to, present their case, call their witnesses, if possible cross-examine the witnesses on the opposite side, et cetera; in accordance with our Constitution and the tenets of natural justice. Even if the impeachment processes are quasi-judicial processes, they also have political implications, because politicians are impeached. I hope the political aspects of this process will be managed. I thank my brother, the Senator for Nyeri, Sen. Kagwe, because he tried very hard to politically deal with this matter. However, somehow the Members of the County Assembly (MCAs) had their way, and it is within their right as MCAs because the law provides that they can proceed with impeachments where they feel there is a case for impeachment. I thank Sen. Kagwe for his efforts as the Senator for Nyeri. Going forward, whichever way this matter is resolved, he still has a job to do in that county; to steer the county and ensure that both the governor and the MCAs forge forward for the remaining year or so and manage the politics of their county for the wellbeing of their people. Mr. Speaker, Sir, we have just seen how ferocious impeachments can be. Two or three weeks ago the Senate of Brazil removed from office, with an overwhelming majority, the President of Brazil. She was not just the President but the first female President in the history of Brazil and also a very strong leader of her party, which has been in power for close to two decades. However, after the impeachment there have been a lot of street protests by her supporters. The kind of political upheavals that are anticipated in Brazil should get us concerned. What the Senate of Brazil did was not bad, but as we go through this quasi-judicial process, we must be alive to the fact that there are political implications. Therefore, we should moderate the political utterances that we make, not only generally as the Senate, but also particularly the politicians who come from that county, so that they do not derail the county by politicising an otherwise largely quasi-judicial process anchored in the law. Lastly, I have full confidence and trust in the abilities of the proposed colleagues who have been cited here. I see a lot of diversity, gender and regional representation and a mix of expertise in terms of those who have been involved in the past and others who have not sat in 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."
}