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{
    "id": 839283,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/839283/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 321,
    "type": "other",
    "speaker_name": "",
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    "speaker": null,
    "content": "As some Members have said, I have also seen this working in counties; where you may wake up one day and for some reason, maybe somebody wanted to go on a trip and there was no money for them to go and the next thing you hear the chants of impeachment. In the event where a governor or another person does not bend to what is being asked of them, be it legal or for whatever purpose, then you hear that impeachment is about to begin. This Bill will help us to understand and know what exactly the threshold is, when you can bring this impeachment and you have to show what exactly the violation is. It is not just minor violation. We are talking about gross violation of the Constitution, any other law, gross misconduct or if the person has committed a crime under national or international law. This will ensure that we do away with petty reasons that we have sometimes, had when impeachments have been mentioned. In addition to that, the Bill has given the timelines and what it takes to carry out an impeachment in the National Assembly, if it is a Cabinet Secretary, the President or the Deputy President, how long the process will take and how many signatures are required to initiate the process. Once the Speaker has approved, the number of days under which the Notice of Motion has to be moved and the number of days that the Motion must be brought to the Floor of the House have been provided. I agree with a colleague who stated that we should not have select committees handling such serious issues like impeachments because we have seen that abused. We may not necessarily have any hard facts but we are all alive to what we read in the social media. We know that it is not easier as it seems to bribe a small group and it is even harder to bribe the whole House. I would rather impeachment proceedings are handled by the House as opposed to having them handled by select committees. I used to work in the county assembly and the assembly could not impeach the County Executive Committee (CEC) members. You could have CECs walk around with impunity feeling that they do not have to perform or do what they are supposed to do. The law is very clear on when the CEC for Finance, for example, should bring what to the county assembly but they still did not do that. At the end of the day, nothing could be done to them because we could not impeach them and there was a judgment to that effect. With this Bill, they will no longer sit comfortably. As much as we do not want them to be impeached because of, for example, not giving MCAs money to attend sports in Kisii County for a week – I have heard that as a ground for impeachment – we do not want frivolous impeachments. We also want to make sure that people who are employed to work in the counties do not just sit comfortably but perform their duties. They should know that they are accountable and they could be sent packing. This is important so that everybody is held accountable. Some issues also came up during public participation meetings. There are groups that suggested that Parliament, which comprises the National Assembly and the Senate, or county assemblies should not impeach office holders. They suggested that we should subject them to public participation and let the public decide. I also agree with the Senator for Bungoma who spoke just before me, that that will be ludicrous because it is the people that elected Members who sit both in the National Assembly and the Senate as well as the county assemblies. One of our major The electronic version of the Senate Hansard Report is for information purposes"
}