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{
    "id": 855099,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/855099/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 268,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "Sen. Dullo",
    "speaker_title": "",
    "speaker": {
        "id": 13125,
        "legal_name": "Dullo Fatuma Adan",
        "slug": "dullo-fatuma-adan"
    },
    "content": "Madam Temporary Speaker, I beg to move that The Treaty Making and Ratification (Amendment) Bill (Senate Bills No.23 of 2018) be now read a Second Time. If I may give a bit of background to this Bill; the reason I wanted to bring this amendment is because I remember in the last Parliament, the National Assembly moved an amendment to remove the Senate from getting involved in the ratification of the treaties and obligations. That was the Treaty Making and Ratification Act No.45 of 2012. The Senate Committee on National Security, Defence and Foreign Relations struggled to summon the CS for Foreign Affairs then to just simply to understand how the ratification and also what kind of responsibilities the counties are engaged in, in terms of obligations and treaty making. Unfortunately, it was unfruitful. We tried to see how we can salvage that, but that never happened. This is fairly a very straightforward amendment. I am not going to take a long process and time to try to explain. I am moving this amendment because I feel that the treaties are very important to the county governments. In as far as the responsibility of the Senate is concerned; the Senate is mandated by law to protect the interest of the counties. If they are involved in the treaty ratification process, then their obligation by the country will be attained. With that, it is important that whenever treaties are submitted to Parliament, we can then involve the Senate so that it can bring amendments or ensure that it is in compliance with the provision of the Constitution and other legislations so as to protect the interest of the Senate. If you look, for example, at the treaties that affect boundaries, environment and many other aspects; you will see that the Senate, which is mandated with the protection of the interests of county governments has a role to play. This is key for the Senate. It is not right for the National Assembly to have left out the Senate in ratification of treaties. It is important that we bring back this amendment so that the Senate will deliberate on the issues of treaty making and ratification in this country. There are about three or four clauses, and most of them are fairly straight forward. Clause 2 is about bringing back the responsibility of the Senate. Clause 3 looks at the process where once the National Assembly is done with the treaties, they pass it on to the Senate. This follows the normal procedure where Bills are referred to the Senate. I believe that this procedure must be followed so that the Senate can deal with the issues of treaty ratification in our country. There is also a provision within the Bill where the CS is mandated to table a report within a financial year to give the status on the ratification of treaties in this The electronic version of the Senate Hansard Report is for information purposesonly. A certified version of this Report can be obtained from the Hansard Editor, Senate."
}