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{
    "id": 717829,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/717829/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 140,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "Hon. Aluoch",
    "speaker_title": "",
    "speaker": {
        "id": 5,
        "legal_name": "John Olago Aluoch",
        "slug": "john-aluoch"
    },
    "content": "Thank you, Hon. Speaker. Mr. Michael Sialai is a career parliamentary staff. In this House, I noticed the Member for Kuresoi South, Hon. Z.K. Cheruiyot, with whom I had the privilege of serving as commissioner in the last Parliament and where we worked very closely with Mr. Sialai. Mr. Sialai seems to be the midway point between the humility of Mr. Bundi and the foxy slyness of Mr. Gichohi from whom Mr. Bundi took over. When I say “foxy slyness”, I do not mean to say anything bad about Mr. Gichohi, but that is him. Hon. Speaker, not many of us will realise that Mr. Sialai served very effectively as a member of the Board of Management of Parliament. Not many of us may remember that what we now see at the Parliamentary Broadcasting Unit (PBU) was set up by a committee that I chaired in the Parliamentary Service Commission (PSC) where Mr. Sialai worked very hard for us to look at how PBUs in the rest of the world operate, which finally ended up with what we now call the PBU in Kenya. It is a brainchild of Mr. Sialai. Mr. Sialai is coming in as one among equals and that is a fact that he must appreciate. He is coming as Clerk to work as a member of a team of senior staff of Parliament. Whether his colleagues applied for this post or not, he must be able to accommodate them if he is elevated to the post of Clerk. Mr. Sialai is a gentleman that withstands pressure. The post of Clerk of the National Assembly comes with a lot of pressure. From my experience, Mr. Sialai is a man who can withstand pressure and work in a focussed manner. As Clerk of the National Assembly, he will be relating very closely with the Clerk of the Senate, who is the secretary of the PSC. The two of them will be coordinating with the other arms of Government, the Judiciary and the Executive. That calls for the type of level headedness that Mr. Sialai has. However, Mr. Sialai is taking over at a time when there are very serious challenges facing this House. One of them that I am familiar with is lack of facilities for Members. He is coming in at a time when there is an urgent need for the office block to be completed within the shortest possible time so that in the next Parliament, Members can come to proper offices in the new block so that they fulfil the type of job that they are expected to perform. Mr. Sialai is coming into office at a time when the role of Parliament is under more scrutiny than before. His conduct and the way he is going to lead Parliament will reflect on the membership that we have. Finally, I support this Motion and I wish Mr. Sialai the best of luck in this position. 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."
}