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{
    "id": 901361,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/901361/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 400,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "Bureti, JP",
    "speaker_title": "Hon. Japheth Mutai",
    "speaker": {
        "id": 13310,
        "legal_name": "Japheth Kiplangat Mutai",
        "slug": "japheth-kiplangat-mutai"
    },
    "content": " Thank you, Hon. Temporary Deputy Speaker. Thank you for making clarity on that. Just to add on one line, that issue, under the Parliamentary Service Act, the same person is accountable to the PSC. The person under the Joint Service is administratively accountable to Clerks of both Houses. In that sense, it is not creating another centre of power or usurping somebody else’s power. Let me come to the current issues. We should say thanks to this House for rising up to the occasion when it came to the amendments of this Bill. First, I look at the Companies Act which is the amendment under Section 93. In the Bill, there is need to have a register or file of beneficial owners in companies. As it stands, there is no clarity when it comes to other general members of companies and the beneficial owners. This Bill will give clarity to that, and I say “thank you for that”. Secondly, there was an amendment which was rejected in the Bill. I thank Parliament for doing that. It was an amendment under Section 275(a) of the Companies Act to create a new section. There was an amendment that required a private company to convene an AGM every year. That would have been onerous. That was settled when the Companies Act came into place in 2015 - only public companies have to convene an AGM every year. Section 310 of the Act makes it mandatory that there must be an AGM every year. To sneak something in and call for private companies to call an AGM every year would have been very onerous. These are companies which need to work independently. They do not need many red tapes. In fact, if anything, it would have been very difficult because these companies have mandated the directors to make decisions. Under the article of association and memorandum, the directors have that leeway to make decisions on behalf of shareholders. There is no need for private companies to call AGMs every year. There was also another amendment that was rejected. It was on Section 329 of the Companies Act. In it, there was attempt to have the directors to only allot shares of a company when there is a resolution made by all the members. Can you imagine a scenario where somebody sits in an office and cannot make decisions, and has to wait for a resolution of shareholders? Parliament rose to the occasion and safeguarded the interest of companies that are growing; companies that are trying to do business in this country. This is a step in the right direction. I also look at an amendment which is brought under the Court of Appeal Organisation and Administration Act. It wanted to increase the number of holidays the Court of Appeal judges have or increase the number of days they go on vacation from the current 45 to 90 days. That was rejected. 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."
}