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{
    "id": 878913,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/878913/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 94,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "Hon. Speaker",
    "speaker_title": "",
    "speaker": null,
    "content": "committees because we have committee rooms. But when a House of Parliament is given the power to call or summon anybody to appear before it to give information or evidence or answer Questions, where is that person supposed to be, specifically in relation to the Chamber? That is the issue we need to determine as a House. I am sure many of you have had occasion to discuss and perhaps read about the debates that have gone into some of the presidential systems and more particularly, within the Congress of the United States of America, where they have argued that the Floor of the House is so sacred that it is only for the people’s representatives. You cannot mingle fellas who are of some other breed with the people’s representatives. If the House of Parliament in our Kenyan Constitution is given power to call a person, where would that person give the information or answer the Questions from? Is the Floor of this plenary so sacred as not to require the presence of non- Members? That is the question. Under the Constitution, you can only invite a visiting head of state or such other dignitary with the permission of the Speaker or the Head of State into the hallowed Floor so that Hon. John Mbadi does not mix with people he does not know. That is the issue. It is a difficulty presented by those practices. It is up to the House to determine, one way or the other, whether in appropriate cases, you can dispense with that rule of requiring strangers not to be in the House, especially if you want strangers to give information or answer Questions. That is food for thought for the Procedure and House Rules Committee. I thought Hon. Olago Aluoch is a member. I think it is Hon. T.J. Kajwang’ who is a member. It is an issue that the House will need to make a decision on, one way or another. If what Hon. Olago Aluoch said is true, that he has not seen the people who answer Questions, then I have sympathies for him. I can only sympathise with him. No more. You have not given me power to waive the requirement of non-strangers appearing here without your leave. Hon. Fabian Muli, you can research on this. You could help the House in making a decision on what should happen. Those are our rules. On one hand, what you are raising is quite pertinent. More importantly, it is the power given to the House in Article 125 of the Constitution. When you invite a person to come and give evidence, where is he supposed to be? On the benches or stand at the door? Can we allow a stranger to come to the Dispatch Box? If the House so determines, the Speaker will humbly comply. It has to be the House to make that decision. I hope we have not confused you further, Hon. Muli. I understand what Hon. Olago Aluoch was saying. Very well. Members, we can now move on with business. I can see there is a level of excitement that is unusual. I suppose it is for good measure. Let us proceed. Next Order."
}