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{
    "id": 763032,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/763032/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 263,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "Sen. Kang’ata",
    "speaker_title": "",
    "speaker": {
        "id": 1826,
        "legal_name": "Irungu Kang'ata",
        "slug": "irungu-kangata"
    },
    "content": "Thank you, Mr. Speaker Sir. I take this opportunity to congratulate every Senator who has supported this process and the Committee that was mandated to deal with these proposals. We have been able to get all the good ideas from Members of Parliament. One thing that people should know is that, the original amendments as they were originally published in the National Assembly, have been changed. We now have new clauses pursuant to what we call public participation. Yesterday I was watching Al Jazeera news where there is one lady who was hosted by the station. She said she was an analyst and gave some funny opinions. She said two things; one, that the President does not have powers to assent to this Bill into law. That is a lie. I draw the attention of Kenyans to the powers of the President as provided for by the Constitution. None of those powers has been vitiated by any process as we speak. In any event, taking into account the latest judgment of Justice Mativo, we are now in a fresh process where everyone can vie. Therefore, the idea that the President does not have some powers and he cannot sign a Bill into law is neither here nor there. It is a lie that I saw yesterday being perpetuated by a person who was masquerading as a political commentator on Al Jazeera Media Network. Two, the lady said that the Senate and the National Assembly are unconstitutional by the fact that they do not have the requisite gender representation. Again, that is not true. I refer to Article 27 of the Constitution which talks about Equality and freedom from discrimination. That Article is drafted in a progressive manner. This is an issue that will be realised continuously. I can see that Kenyans are doing a very good job. We now have three women elected as Senators. Therefore, we should be very clear that what we have done is legal. Mr. Speaker, Sir, if I may draw the attention of Kenyans to the powers of Parliament. It is the only institution that has the legal mandate to make laws and not the Executive or the Judiciary. Therefore, what we were doing here was making laws. Senators from NASA, in their own wisdom, refused to come and participate in this process. Today we saw several amendments that came from their side, but they refused to come and prosecute them. Therefore, one cannot blame the Jubilee side for pushing through these amendments because we are doing what we were employed to do by the taxpayers."
}