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{
    "id": 697236,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/697236/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 355,
    "type": "other",
    "speaker_name": "",
    "speaker_title": "",
    "speaker": null,
    "content": "This House is called Parliament which is made up of two Houses. It is very hard for anybody else out there to know whether it is the National Assembly which has done that job or whether it is the Senate. Now that we have a bicameral Parliament, why do we not give full powers to the bicameral system instead of giving it half-way? When we allow the National Assembly to continue without involving the Senate, the bicameral aspect will, therefore, be missing in the final aspect of such a decision which will have been arrived at by the National Assembly. I would suggest that we continue with this kind of amendment. It should be appreciated that without the Senate, not much would happen from the National Assembly. We are the people who should be saying how and what the Senate should be doing. We should be able to compare ourselves largely with what happens with the other democracies in the world. We should compare ourselves with America, India, Britain and many others. Some of us have been to these countries and have learnt a lot. The Senate should then be the final House. If anything comes from the National Assembly, it should be seen like it is coming to the final House for decision making because this is a House of records and with very serious Members. This is a good move and the introduction should not be watered down. It is a spirit towards the right direction and it will harmonise the feeling of both Houses. It is something that should go on record for having been introduced in the first Senate of the Second Republic of Kenya. As we go for the elections, people should get to know that the National Assembly and the Senate work together and that is why we have the bicameral system. It should also be known that we have an understanding that there is nothing that can go undebated by the Senate or can escape the attention of the Senate. This is important and it should emphasize the vital role of a Senate. We should be comparable to other democracies. If that is the case, we need to assert ourselves in the establishment and it should be entrenched totally so that nobody would be seen as being above the Senate. This is how we will entrench our power in the democracy and in the bicameral Parliament. In this case, we hail the Senator from Isiolo for having come up with this kind of amendment. I would ask us to compare and see how other countries and democracies have progressed through this kind of introduction. We have benchmarked in other countries and have always asked ourselves why those countries are ahead of Kenya. The most important parameter is the democracy. Now that we are talking about the legislature and a bicameral Parliament, we should, indeed, have a bicameral Parliament, bicameral activities, bicameral contribution and bicameral characteristics. We should not be seen as being shy when we talk of a bicameral Parliament. What we do should be the same as what happens in India, Korea, Japan, America and other places. When we do that, we will have a progressive country and will be seen like a destination not just in East Africa or Africa, but the world at large. I support."
}