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{
    "id": 857959,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/857959/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 493,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "Sen. Wetangula",
    "speaker_title": "",
    "speaker": {
        "id": 210,
        "legal_name": "Moses Masika Wetangula",
        "slug": "moses-wetangula"
    },
    "content": "Thank you, Madam Temporary Speaker. I was, in fact, going away when I heard on radio the debate on this Bill going on. I had to rush back to speak to it because this is one Bill that this House must pass to reclaim its position under the Constitution. I say so because I have been in the Senate Committee on Defence and Foreign Relations that has been working on this Bill since the last Parliament. The Constitution provides very clearly that any treaty signed by the Republic of Kenya, in which case it will be either the Cabinet Secretary (CS) responsible for foreign affairs or any designated CS, shall not become part of our law unless it is ratified by Parliament; not the National Assembly. Madam Temporary Speaker, in the last Parliament, there was a crude attempt by the National Assembly to amend the Constitution and edit out the Senate from treaty ratification. This is so that treaties entered into by the Republic of Kenya end up in the National Assembly to take legal effect, and the Senate is cut out. We protested this mischievous amendment very loudly and vehemently to the National Assembly, but they completely ignored us. In the process, that amendment to the Treaties Act was sneaked to the President and he assented to it. Madam Temporary Speaker, this brings me to the point that we have been saying; that Article 110(3) of the Constitution – and I have seen a Bill drafted by Sen. Mutula Kilonzo Jnr. or somebody else – must be operationalised by a simple Act of Parliament that will take us to the process that Amos Wako, as Attorney-General, used to go through. 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."
}