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{
    "id": 745048,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/745048/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 74,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "Hon. A.B Duale",
    "speaker_title": "",
    "speaker": {
        "id": 15,
        "legal_name": "Aden Bare Duale",
        "slug": "aden-duale"
    },
    "content": "independent candidates in this House. Hon. Wesley walked away from Jubilee and came back running as an independent candidate. So, they are only the four of them, but they anticipate that the numbers will be high. I am sure there are many people who are jostling to become leaders of the independent candidates in the 12th Parliament, with Hon. Jakoyo being the front-runner in the event that he wins his seat. So, Hon. Musimba feels that the number of independent candidates is going to increase, but I doubt it. That is my opinion because we are under obligation to protect parliamentary and political parties’ democracy. Article 108 of the Constitution is very clear on party leaders. The only party leaders recognised in the Constitution are the leadership of the majority and the minority. There is no way you can sneak a provision of creating the position of a leader of the independent candidates via a Standing Order. Hon. Musimba needs to amend Article 108 of the Constitution so that he can enjoy the position of the leader of independent candidates. I think that is why Hon. Speaker was very categorical that the amendment he was moving was unconstitutional. He had not done enough research so he had to be thrown out of the House. I totally agree with the Hon. Speaker and we must oppose Hon. Musimba’s proposed amendment. Secondly, on Part IV of the Standing Orders, which deals with the calendar and the sitting of the House, the Committee proposed a number of amendments, one of which will affect the current Wednesday morning sitting hours which begin at 9.30 a.m. and end at 1.00 p.m. The Committee has proposed an extension of the afternoon sitting by 30 minutes. So, if this is adopted, the House will be rising at 7.00 p.m. on Wednesdays. That is because with the numbers that we have in this House, 349 Members, it is important that each and every Member gets an opportunity to speak. In any case, even if we rise at 6.30 p.m., we would still be within the precincts of Parliament because of the traffic jam. So, we will support that the House be given an extension of 30 minutes for business to move from 6.30 p.m. to 7.00 p.m. There is a matter that deals with statements. The Committee proposed an amendment that seeks to change the time for Members to make general statements. It proposes Tuesday at 6.00 p.m. and not 6.30 p.m. as has been the case. This is so as to create time for the transaction of the business of the House. That is a small amendment. There is a proposed amendment on how to deal with Special Motions. It provides for the removal of the Hon. Speaker and the Deputy Hon. Speaker from office through a Special Motion. It also provides clear timelines for that consideration. The other thing is about the removal of the President and other State officers such as Cabinet Secretaries (CSs) and Principal Secretaries (PSs). The issue of dealing with the impeachment of the Hon. Speaker is not well stated in the current Standing Orders and that is why we feel that this amendment is important. We need to have procedures and timelines on how to deal with Special Motions, especially those ones on the removal of the Speaker or the Deputy Speaker. There is a new section that deals with issues of committees. The number of Members in committees has reduced from the current 29 to 17 Members. This is something every Member in this House has been praying for so that we have a small membership in every committee. That way, it will be even easier to raise the required quorum. There is also Part V that deals with the proceedings of the Address by the President, visiting dignitaries or other persons. The Committee proposes an amendment to the Standing Orders to provide that the Speaker may designate a suitable place in the Chamber or at the Bar of the House for the Cabinet Secretary responsible for Finance to make a public pronouncement on the budget policy highlights and other persons to make submissions. So, in the event that we have a visiting Head of State or Prime Minister or for a local scenario, the CS for National 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."
}