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{
    "id": 879611,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/879611/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 321,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "Nominated, ANC",
    "speaker_title": "Hon. Godfrey Osotsi",
    "speaker": {
        "id": 13172,
        "legal_name": "Godfrey Osotsi",
        "slug": "godfrey-osotsi"
    },
    "content": " Sorry, Hon. Temporary Deputy Speaker. This Motion is very progressive as the other speakers have said. It is going to open opportunities for Members to play their rightful role of law making. The work of lawmakers is to make laws. As you know, it has been very difficult to push through a Private Members’ Bill. We have over 80 Private Members’ Bills that are pending. Only 30 have gone through the Budget and Appropriations Committee. We still have many others still on the way. I think the decision of the House Business Committee was very innovative but I think we can do a lot more by relooking at the Standing Orders. As the Hon. Colleague has said, we want a situation where we can avoid prepublication scrutiny because clearly it is becoming a hindrance to Members introducing their Private Members’ Bills. We also want to consider what Hon. Kajwang’ has said. We need to look at the merits of this Bill. If I look at this list, I see a number of Bills which are amendments to the same law. If you look at Bill No. 4, it is seeking to amend the Public Service Commission Bill. Bill No. 7 is seeking to do the same. If you look at Bill No. 11 and Bill No. 10, they are actually amending the same law. Bill No. 12 and 13 are amending the same law. So, we risk a scenario of duplication. We also have Government Bills which are ongoing which are seeking to amend some laws. So, I think some form of consolidation needs to be done so that we do not end up duplicating this Bill. In other jurisdictions like the UK Parliament, you cannot introduce a Private Members’ Bill that is going to duplicate a decision that has been made by Parliament on a particular Bill in that session. That has to be looked at. I am concerned with the level of scrutiny that has been done on this list of 30 Bills. I remember in my committee, the Departmental Committee on Communication, Information and Innovation, we looked at Bill No. 12 and made a decision because it was seeking to introduce amendments on use of social media and cybercrime. As you may be aware, we have a new law that is in place - The Computer Misuse and Cybercrimes Act. I think this list must be looked at because I am sure some committees have already dispensed with some of these Bills that are indicated here. The other thing is the operations of the Budget and Appropriations Committee. I think we need to have an appeal mechanism. We have a situation where you take your Bill to the Budget and Appropriations Committee, they look at it, they refuse to approve it because it is a Money Bill and the Member has no mechanism to appeal. We need to make some changes in the 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."
}