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{
    "id": 781433,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/781433/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 257,
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    "content": "the deputy governor had been impeached. If the governor had been impeached and the deputy governor took the position of the governor, what would happen to the position of the deputy governor? The Supreme Court has finally pronounced itself in a manner that validates my intellectual abilities. The Bill that has been drafted here mirrors exactly what the Supreme Court said. In the case of Nyeri County, there are Members who came to me saying that they cannot allow someone who was just a deputy governor to unilaterally appoint another deputy governor without going through the process of involving the voters or the public. Madam Temporary Speaker, the Supreme Court has agreed with this Bill that where there is a vacancy in the office of the deputy governor, the replacement should mirror that of the Deputy President. When there is a vacancy in the office of the Deputy President, the President appoints someone who will assume the office of the Deputy President once approved by the National Assembly. In the same way, we have drafted that when there is a vacancy in the office of the deputy governor, the governor will nominate a person and submit the name of that person to the county assembly. That nomination must take place within 14 days from the time that situation occurred. Madam Temporary Speaker, one thing I like about the Supreme Court is that in the absence of legislation, they filled the gap in terms of timelines. They picked 14 days in terms of that appointment, which is already mirrored in the provisions of the Deputy President. This Bill departs from the Supreme Court decision in terms of county assembly, where we are saying the county assembly, upon receipt of that nomination, must act within 14 days and not 60 days. The Supreme Court had said that the county assembly can act within 60 days. However, the good thing is that the Supreme Court qualified that decision by saying that it is because there is no Act of Parliament providing for this. We have said that, that should be done within 14 and not 60 days. So, within 14 days, the county assembly should approve. Therefore, the offices of the deputy governor of Nairobi City County and the deputy governor for Nyeri County can be filled even now, with the advisory of the Supreme Court. However, so that we provide procedure of how that approval will be done, we have provided here that the county assembly will approve by simple majority. That is something that is also absent from the Supreme Court advisory opinion. The simple majority of the County Assembly should be able to pass. Some may say that, maybe, the threshold should have been made too high. If we make it too high, you make the politics too complicated and difficult for governors to replace their deputies. For that reason, the simple majority was chosen. This is also the case in the National Assembly when approving a nominee for the office of the Deputy President. It is for that reason that we must do so. Let me tell my colleagues, any person who had---"
}