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{
    "id": 864987,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/864987/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 153,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "Kikuyu, JP",
    "speaker_title": "Hon. Kimani Ichung’wah",
    "speaker": {
        "id": 1835,
        "legal_name": "Anthony Kimani Ichung'Wah",
        "slug": "anthony-kimani-ichungwah"
    },
    "content": "Therefore, to enact laws, we only need the National Assembly. The other House simply participates. Hon. Speaker, this morning I was privileged to join the Executive at Kenyatta International Conference Centre (KICC) in a public participation exercise on the budget for 2019/2020 and the medium-term expenditure. Therefore, we held public participation and indeed, a member from the civil society stood up and directed a question to me, on whether the Parliamentary Service Bill that purportedly we are using to increase our salaries and perks went through public participation. I challenged any member of the public or any person in that auditorium who had facts on the particular provision of that Bill that touches on Hon. Members’ salaries, perks or any allowances to point it out. Even the person who had raised that question could not point out to a particular provision. I am saying this because it was a public participation forum. I want to encourage our colleagues in the other House to participate in enactment of laws which is done by the National Assembly either at county hall or elsewhere. Otherwise, this is very immoral. I heard one of the Senators speaking in a public rally, purporting to say what is popular with the public against this Bill, that we are increasing our salaries and perks. I asked the Senator whether she has had an opportunity to look at the Bill, and unfortunately, she confessed that she was just reacting to what has been reported in the media. After His Excellency the President spoke in Malindi, the following day I met a member of one of the media houses responsible for publishing the story and I challenged him on the issue. He laughed it off and told me, “You know, we have even managed and succeeded to mislead His Excellency the President to comment on something that does not exist.” Therefore, it is imperative for Kenyans to know the kind of journalists and media houses we are dealing with today. As the Leader of the Minority Party has said, there are people who dwell on what is sensational so as to sell their newspapers. I am tempted to believe what President Uhuru Kenyatta said, that some of these newspapers are just good enough for wrapping meat, ile ya kufunga nyama . It is just unfortunate that he also commented on something that was also reported by these newspapers. I think it is important for members of public to understand the import of this Parliamentary Service Bill. It has absolutely nothing to do with our salaries, perks and allowances. Lastly, I think it is common sense to anybody who has little understanding of the law or English to read our statutes, that in this 12th Parliament, if we are to vary our salaries, perks and allowances in any way, we shall not benefit from that variance. It will only benefit the next Parliament after 2022. That is what I said at KICC this morning. That even if the variance was there, we cannot be beneficiaries. Again, since we invite the public to participate in the appropriation of resources, it would have been very easy for the public to see if Parliament had appropriated any resources towards payment of salaries, allowances and perks as has been reported by the media. Therefore, I want to support all Hon. Members who have spoken and thank Hon. June for raising this issue. I also want to thank the Leader of the Minority Party for pointing this out to Baba . I want to encourage Hon. Junet to ask Baba to fire whoever wrote that statement for him and subjected him to signing statements that have nothing to do with what is before this House. Thank you, Hon. Speaker."
}