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"content": "In the same vein, I would like to ask based on the Address that the President gave that we need to respect the institution of the presidency because it is the national symbol of unity. It is not about the person of the President. This is such that if the Constitution and our statutes provide that the President shall address a joint sitting of Parliament at its first sitting, then we are supposed to respect that provision of the Constitution.We cannot therefore anticipate a situation where we selectively apply the Constitution, if at all, to show that it serves our interest at that point in time. If the Party Leader of the Coalition of the Minority side was the one occupying the position of the Presidency, they too would expect to get respect even when there is a political contestation. Mr. Speaker, Sir, at this point, I thank Kenyans because as the President said in his Address, we have maintained peace and continue to work side by side. After the declaration of the results,which, we, in the Majority side in the Jubilee Party believe were credible and our President won, people had accepted and started to move on. Mr. Speaker, Sir, our much enabled Judiciary has been allocated a lot of resources by Parliament every time they appear before our Budget Committees. However, as was witnessed yesterday, it begs very many questions when we see the same Judiciary which also believes in the separation of powers and interdependence of the three arms of government would not honour an invitation, a constitutional obligation to attend the first sitting of Parliament. Politics is about perception and what people think about you. Knowing very well that the decision they made - which those of us in the majority do not agree with but respect - they were expected to ensure that they do not accept the aspersions that they would be partial. However, going forward, I think this is something that needs to be put into perspective. I think we would have loved to see the representation of the Judiciary as has been the case before in Parliament. Mr. Speaker, Sir, the President’s Address dwelt a lot on the need to ensure that the country is steered into the right direction. I concur with him when he espouses the fact that there is no lacuna in law or crises. All the three arms of Government are performing their constitutional mandate. However, at the same time, we know that there are elements in this country whose only role is to sabotage that which seems to be working. I call upon Kenyans to be more patriotic and to love their country beyond their political divides and look more at what unites us, as a people, so that we can build a prosperous future and secure the present for all Kenyans who are here and those who will be born in the future. I was nominated to this House to represent the interests of Persons Living with Disabilities (PLWDs). When we were crafting the Constitution, we envisaged a situation where PLWDs due to the systemic marginalisation that they would have, at least, two guaranteed representatives in the Senate - a man and a woman. I am very privileged to be the person occupying that slot, the second only in the history of this Republic. A lot remains to be done on matters devolution. Mr. Speaker, Sir, seventy-nine per cent of PLWDs live in the rural areas in the counties. Therefore, I believe when the President noted, for example, in his Address that at least one woman with disability was elected competitively as the women representative for Kajiado County, it shows that we are making progress. It goes to demonstrate that the positions that have been created to represent special interest are achieving their purpose. I have come to the national limelight through such provisions.This august House,"
}