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{
    "id": 755780,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/755780/?format=api",
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    "content": "say that the President cannot have a Cabinet meeting or build roads; there is no provision that says that work should stop in this country; there is no provision that says the President cannot order policemen or the armed forces to perform their security responsibility. So, what the President told us yesterday, despite whatever other interpretations other people may have over Article 134, is that the country is running; the Executive and the Legislature are working as you can see. Similarly, the Judiciary is also working, as you can see what they did towards our elections. So, it is important for every citizen to have this confidence; and us, as leaders, to give the confidence to the public that we have the President of Kenya. We chose, via our Constitution, that when we have the President, we will have him or her from the time the one has been sworn into office until a new one has been elected, because the founding fathers of this Constitution – many of whom are still alive – all of us here played a role in one way or another in the establishment of this Constitution - and we knew that there will never be a vacuum in this country. Mr. Speaker, Sir, that brings me to the next question. If, therefore, we are exercising sovereign power of the people; we have been given certain responsibilities; we have been told that there is separation of powers between the Executive, the Legislature and the Judiciary; but again Article 6 of the Constitution says that we must work together through consultation and cooperation. Many people make this assumption; that when we say that the Judiciary, the Legislature or the Executive is independent, we do not mean that they are independent for the purpose of frustrating the services that they must offer to the people of Kenya. That brings me to the next question on what happened yesterday in the gallery of Parliament, which is unacceptable. For the first time since I came to Parliament and, perhaps, since the history of Parliament, the Judiciary was absent when the Executive was having a serious engagement. The Chief Justice, the Deputy Chief Justice and representatives of the Judicial Service Commission (JSC) were not there. Permit me to ask this question; is it that the Judiciary decided to follow in the decision of one side of the political divide in the country, to say that they were not coming to the House? Did they consult our colleagues in the National Super Alliance (NASA) on this action? Did they believe that they are aiding the cause of NASA by this action? That is a very disturbing question. When the President comes to open Parliament and the two Speakers are present, it is one of those rare opportunities that we can demonstrate to the people of Kenya that the three arms of Government can work together and support each other. That is why when the Chief Justice is being sworn in, the President is there and he has a role in the appointment of the Chief Justice, despite the fact that it is opposite. Mr. Speaker, Sir, we have held so many consultation meetings with the Judiciary and the Speakers of Parliament have availed themselves. So, the question which bothers me is this; where was the Chief Justice? Is it possible that the Chief Justice and his Deputy would have missed such an important event without the decision of the Supreme Court in the recent presidential nullification coming into the mind of any Kenyan? Is it possible that, that absence was choreographed, agreed upon and designed to try and create an impression that the President was not the President as defined by the Constitution? I am asking these questions because some people said that the Chief Justice"
}