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{
    "id": 818320,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/818320/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 119,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "Eldas, JP",
    "speaker_title": "Hon. Adan Keynan",
    "speaker": {
        "id": 41,
        "legal_name": "Adan Wehliye Keynan",
        "slug": "adan-keynan"
    },
    "content": "Here we are. Article 93 of the Constitution talks about the establishment of Parliament. Article 94 talks about the role of Parliament. Article 95 talks about the role of the National Assembly while Article 96 talks about the role of the Senate. Article 125 talks about the role of the Committees. More fundamentally, Article 125 of the Constitution equates the role of Committees to the High Court. Therefore, with these powers, how are the Members of Parliament expected to discharge their constitutional functions of oversight, legislation, budget- making and representation? How will they do it if they do not travel? If every meeting of a Member of Parliament is criminalized to the extent that the Member of Parliament gains certain monetary privileges, I consider that as very unfair. If there are issues, we are so many. I am not going to pretend and say we are all clean. We are too many. If there are issues that are of great concern to a particular member, whoever is reporting has a right to channel the same complaints to the Committee on Powers and Privileges, to the Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission (EACC) and other investigative agencies that will deal with that particular individual. However, someone sitting somewhere concocting a sensational story to condemn the whole House, in my opinion, beats the very essence of having the right to inform. Therefore, I appeal to the members of the Fourth Estate. What are the options of having a democratically elected Parliament – militarism or dictatorship? We will have to live with democratically elected governance structure as long as we remain democratic. Therefore, those who wish other forms of governance can only do it in the utopian world because the Kenyan people have collectively decided when they promulgated the current Constitution that they will be governed through their democratically elected, people-centred, people-placed and people-oriented parliamentary process and here we are. Therefore, as I conclude, I want to ask you Members: Do not shy away from discharging your constitutionally given mandate. Continue to serve the people of Kenya but as you do that, please make sure you also apply due diligence. You will be criticized because even the courts are being criticized. Everybody is being criticized. What shocked me a bit is this particular ruling that was delivered by the Judiciary yesterday, which I think was filed by a member of the Judicial Service Commission (JSC). Parliament legislates, the courts arbitrate while the Executive acts. Why will you want to interfere with what the Judiciary has done? How about if this case was ours? I think today the stories would have been different. In this story, it is not Parliamentary Service Commission that went to court. It is not a particular Member of Parliament. It is somebody through the JSC that had sought interpretation and they are entitled. We must accept the rule of law. The rule of law is to accept a different entity structure to arbitrate what you have also passed. That is what the Judiciary has done. Therefore, I appeal to the members of the Fourth Estate as a Commissioner to say that you will remember, Hon. Speaker, under your leadership, we moved a Motion to allow the members of the Fourth Estate to have a conducive environment. Even right now, we are still thinking of modernizing the same facility. That should not be used to unfairly undermine the very institution that supports this facility. Our role should be complementary. Please, inform when you know it is right and avoid when you know it is wrong. With this, I plead that this be The electronic version of the Official Hansard Report is for information purposes only. Acertified version of this Report can be obtained from the Hansard Editor."
}