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{
    "id": 843233,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/843233/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 208,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "Sen. Murkomen",
    "speaker_title": "The Senate Majority Leader",
    "speaker": {
        "id": 440,
        "legal_name": "Onesimus Kipchumba Murkomen",
        "slug": "kipchumba-murkomen"
    },
    "content": " Madam Temporary Speaker, I have listened to the various views that were more about the Committee on Health than Sen. Outa as a person. The sentiments are welcome and I appreciate the auditing of the performance of the Committee on Health, and I am the one who initiated that debate. I also urge Sen. Mwaura to be very cautious because he is also a Vice Chairperson of a Committee that we are likely to subject to the same auditing criteria that he is applying to others. That is why I am warning him about collective responsibility. I have had a heart to heart discussion with the Chairperson of the Committee and he has told me what they are doing. Some of the things that they do are not in the public domain. However, there is need for that Committee to pull up its socks. It is now becoming apparent that it is not just that Committee, but many other Committees. The Chairperson of the Committee on Agriculture, Livestock and Fisheries has mentioned to me that he is lucky to get two Members to come to meetings. Sen. (Rev.) Waqo who is the Vice Chairperson of a very important Committee has also said that some Members just come in, sign and leave. I even know Members of this House who come to this House thrice in a year. Of the three, they speak only once. I think we need integrity on some things in this House. As the Senate Majority Leader I will meet my colleagues on the minority side. I think that we need a major reshuffle in so far as the Committees are concerned. We need to put people where they have interest. Maybe we were wrong in sub-dividing the Committees. We can go back to merging them, so that we have fewer Committees. I think the wisdom that dictated the creation of these Committees at that point in time needs to be re-evaluated. We can merge, for example, the Committee on Roads that was split from the Committee on Energy. I hope that people will not start saying that they were interested in being in this or the other Committee. Like the way we discuss statements in this House, I think we need a Kamukunji to discuss the performance of committees. If you do not attend the Kamukunji and you are a Member of a Committee, we will get you out, so that we start afresh. This is because when the names come here, all of us will approve them. We do not want people to come here and lament. Sometimes we protect people but at their expense. I think what is missing in this Senate is the vibrancy of a number of the Committees in addressing issues in the public interest, and people are questioning it. Sen. Mwaura, if you listened to me very carefully, in my lawyerly way, I am saying the same things as you. However, I am more careful in terms of attributing it to an individual. I am just saying that we need the performance of that Committee to be visible. That is the same thing that we discussed in the Senate Business Committee (SBC). Whether the problem is the Chairperson or maybe the Chairperson is available and Members are not, that can be interrogated. However, the Committee needs to be visible in performance of its function, knowing that it is at the heart of the Senate. Madam Temporary Speaker, Sir, since we have done one year, I am ready for re- auditing of these Committees. Why do people who do not come to this House chair Committees? If you come to the Senate thrice a year, why would you want to be a The electronic version of the Senate Hansard Report is for information purposes only. A certified version of this Report can be obtained from the Hansard Editor, Senate."
}