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{
    "id": 862592,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/862592/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 261,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "Ndaragwa, JP",
    "speaker_title": "Hon. Jeremiah Kioni",
    "speaker": {
        "id": 49,
        "legal_name": "Jeremiah Ngayu Kioni",
        "slug": "jeremiah-kioni"
    },
    "content": " Hon. Temporary Deputy Speaker, I thank you because I started struggling even when the main Speaker was here. I am happy you have given me this opportunity to contribute. I will start from where I wanted to when the other Speaker was present. With regard to the Government Contracts Bill before us, you will notice that we are making sure that those contracts conform with the Constitution of 2010. There is a notion that the implementation of the Constitution is done with because we have enacted what people think were the popular Acts or Bills that needed to be passed. The process of implementing the Constitution will not come to an end. It is ongoing. It will be there for a long time. We have engaged many organizations, including the Office of the Attorney Geneal, the Law Reform Commission and others. They have given us a score-card. They have also pointed out to us that there is a lot of work, more than we can imagine, that requires to be done for us to move a little bit further in implementing the Constitution. With time, we will table a report in this Parliament so that Members can appreciate where we are and the work that is being done. It is during one of those interactions that the Office of the Attorney General mentioned something that could be useful when dealing with this Bill. They said that most of the Government agencies - if not all of them - refer to them for advisory opinions and even sometimes for signatures, like it will be the case with this Bill if enacted. They are happy to do it. It is very crucial and important that we have now brought in the Attorney General to look at the Government contracts that we sign. It is important that we also do not create a bottleneck because I am not sure that the Office of the Attorney General is currently properly staffed to help them clear their desks as the requests come from various ministries. Quite often, you will find the Attorney General saying that they should carry on and they will be advised with time especially if the advice being called for has a time limit within which it must be met. I am happy that this Bill talks about the need for the Attorney General to look at Government contracts, but let us also quickly address the capacity and staffing levels at the Attorney General’s Office. This Bill states that county attorneys are also required to sign contracts at the county level. It is common knowledge that our staff at the county offices are there for a very short while. They are employed for a reason, sometimes due to nepotism. With the exit of a governor, they are also likely to look for other ways to exit. We need to pay attention to how the county service boards engage those attorneys and even other members of staff at the county level. The Senate should be doing this. As we think about implementing the Constitution, we cannot keep our eyes closed when considering those issues. What is also crucial is that when you are calling on an attorney at the county level to sign contracts on behalf of the county government, it will be important to also address the levels of qualifications that we need for him to be given that responsibility. You do not want a person who has come straight from the university to be given the task of signing contracts. He or she can easily sign without understanding the dangers that he or she is putting the county and the country into."
}