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{
    "id": 859368,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/859368/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 271,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "Suba South, ODM",
    "speaker_title": "Hon. John Mbadi",
    "speaker": {
        "id": 110,
        "legal_name": "John Mbadi Ng'ong'o",
        "slug": "john-mbadi"
    },
    "content": " Thank you, Hon. Temporary Deputy Speaker. I rise to support the Parliamentary Service Bill. I also want to start by saying that it is an observation that this Act has been in existence since 2000. It was enacted pursuant to the old Constitution under Article 45. Now, we are operating under the new Constitution and yet for eight years we have been unable enact legislation that would actualise the provisions of that Article. We continue to operate as if the new Constitution does not exist. We have passed all the legislation anchoring all the other commissions that were required to be anchored in law. That was not an oversight because we were very much aware of our responsibility. Maybe it is negligence in terms of our responsibility as a House. A time has come for this House to see it fit to debate this Bill and pass it. I thank the Chair and the leadership of the Departmental Committee on Justice and Legal Affairs which extensively looked at this Bill, sought the opinion of Kenyans as required by law and has done a very comprehensive report from which we will derive a number of amendments to make this Bill much better. The first question that one would want to ask in any organisation is the core function of that institution. I used to work with the University of Nairobi in the Finance Department. We were always reminded that the core function of the University of Nairobi is to teach and do research. Any other services being provided whether it is student welfare, catering department, halls department, finance, procurement and so on, were the support functions of the University. The question you need to ask is: What is the core function of Parliament? It is legislation. Therefore, I want to ask: If there are no Members of Parliament, would we have a Parliament? If we have all the staff from the Clerk to the lowest cadre of staff without Members of Parliament, is that a Parliament? The answer is no. Parliament exists because of legislation. Parliament exists because there are Members of Parliament. Without Members of Parliament, you have no Parliament. Therefore, in this Bill, it is very important and critical that issues of Members of Parliament are addressed. I want to disagree slightly with the Leader of the Majority Party. It is not just Members of Parliament who are addressed by this Bill; it also addresses the issues of staff of Parliament. We are in this Bill handling issues of Members of Parliament and also issues of staff. It is for a good reason. The Judiciary has the Judicial Service Commission (JSC) which looks into the interests of members of the Judiciary. It goes without saying that when it comes to services and facilities for the Judiciary, it is the JSC that has a primary mandate and responsibility to provide the same to Members of the Judiciary and nobody has ever complained about it. In fact, we appropriate funds religiously to the Judiciary to provide facilities and services so as to make the work of the Judiciary possible. The Public Service Commission also has a responsibility to ensure that the public sector functions; that facilities and services are provided for those who work in the public sector to provide service to the public. Equally, Parliamentary Service Commission has a responsibility The electronic version of the Official Hansard Report is for information purposes only. Acertified version of this Report can be obtained from the Hansard Editor."
}