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{
    "id": 745052,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/745052/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 78,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "Hon. (Ms.) Abdalla",
    "speaker_title": "",
    "speaker": {
        "id": 382,
        "legal_name": "Amina Ali Abdalla",
        "slug": "amina-abdalla"
    },
    "content": "Thank you, Hon. Temporary Deputy Speaker. I also want to congratulate the Procedure and House Rules Committee for coming up with amendments to the Standing Orders. I have read this Report and I have a few points which I wish to share that might not have been included in this Report. Firstly, we probably need to amend the component on the handling of the Budget for purposes of dealing with the fact that some of our budgetary reports are not reflected in the Appropriation Bill. We need to address that anomaly and to ensure that committees do not present and convince the Budget and Appropriations Committee on matters which do not end up in the Order Paper. Secondly, I am concerned about the Second Schedule. We have said in many of our reports in this House that irrigation is an infrastructure matter and not an agricultural one. So, I will suggest an amendment to the functions of the Departmental Committee on Agriculture, Livestock and Co-operatives to delete the functions of irrigation and place it under the Departmental Committee on Environment and Natural Resources because how we invest in infrastructure and agriculture is totally different. So, when irrigation is under the Departmental Committee on Agriculture, Livestock and Co-operatives, it suffers in terms of budgeting. Thirdly, is the issue of petitions. This is a wonderful inclusion in our Constitution and Standing Orders which we are missing the point. We administratively tried to address the matter through reporting after the petitions have been dealt with but, this died. There is no point of raising the prayers which somebody has presented in their petition and giving no opportunity, in live coverage, for the committee to present their answers to the prayers. The Standing Orders need to accommodate the fact that the process is not complete if you do not give the findings of the committee to the prayers presented by members of the public. It is true that the report of the committee is usually sent to the specific petitioners, but the members of the public end up not knowing what has happened to the same. Fourthly, is the issue of how we handle mediation committee reports on legislative matters between the Senate and the National Assembly. The way we usually handle it is wrong in that the Mover of the Bill usually wants to own the mediation committee report which he has not played a part in and does not know what has taken place. This needs to be addressed. I really welcome the reduction of numbers of members of committees because it has not been easy to handle 29 Members, especially when dealing with extremely technical matters. So, this is welcomed. Finally, Hon. Temporary Deputy Speaker, I want you to listen because you are the Vice- Chair of the Liaison Committee. The Standing Orders need to be a bit brave and state whether the Liaison Committee serves any function or not. Let us be brave and remove it because there is no point of having a Committee that is toothless and meets once a year and does not do much. My suggestion is we either give better functions to the Liaison Committee or just remove it from the Standing Orders. With those many remarks, I support the new Standing Orders."
}