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{
    "id": 839264,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/839264/?format=api",
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    "content": "universal suffrage, he or she can get to office, become rogue, start to violate the Constitution and do all manner of things. In the last couple of years, we saw the impeachment of the President of Brazil on the surprising basis of interfering with the budget process, which is something that was not successful. Former President Dilma Rousseff is alleged to have tried to influence Members of Parliament (MPs) to budget for some provisions that were going to help her friends. It is called lobbying in the United States of America (USA) and in Kenya we call it corruption. She was prosecuted before the Senate, impeached, lost the process in court and left office. I thought it was harsh and unfair because that budget was not passed, it was just intent yet she was impeached. Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir, in other countries, when a person violates the law, they are not subjected to the process of impeachment. They are simply prosecuted and jailed. A clear example is the lady Park Geun-hye of South Korea who, as fate would have it, immediately after a very high profile visit to Kenya, she arrived home and she was hauled into court, prosecuted and jailed for 26 years as a sitting President. These are countries with very mature systems, legal structures and; they strongly believe in the rule of law to the extent that there is no pretence like we have that anybody is above the law. There are some people in this country who think that applying the law on certain office holders is treason yet it is not. It is in fact, those kinds of things that can bring order and probity in society. Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir, I really like the provisions of the new Constitution. Those who have been wishing away the Senate, including our distinguished colleagues in the National Assembly, should know that on their own, they cannot remove the President from office. In fact, as it is now, under the law and the Constitution, they are the investigators and we are the judges. So, they can start pontificating on whether the judge is more important than the investigator. Their Chamber is for indictment and the trial lies here. What is important is the two options given. I really look at the bungled impeachment of the Governor of Murang’a County which---"
}