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{
    "id": 903193,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/903193/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 238,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "Sen. Sakaja",
    "speaker_title": "",
    "speaker": {
        "id": 13131,
        "legal_name": "Johnson Arthur Sakaja",
        "slug": "johnson-arthur-sakaja"
    },
    "content": "―A Bill may be introduced by any member or committee of the relevant House or Parliament but a money Bill may be introduced only in the National Assembly in accordance with Article 114. Article 110(3) expressly provides that- ―Before either House considers a Bill, the Speakers of the National Assembly and the Senate shall jointly resolve any question as to whether it is a Bill concerning counties and if it is, whether it is a special Bill or an ordinary Bill.‖ This is why we have come together with Sen. Mutula Kilonzo Jnr. to co-sponsor, this Bill because this is where there has been no clarity. This is our second co-sponsoring The question whether a Bill concerns counties is, therefore, one that is to determine jointly by the Speakers of both Houses. It is not a matter to be determined by only one Speaker of one House. They must be able to come together. Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir, over the past few years since 2013, this has been a problem. I have had the privilege of being in both Houses of Parliament. I have been in the National Assembly and the Senate. Apart from the trivial jokes that have always been there about is which is the upper or lower House. In fact, I used to say that the National Assembly can be the lower House, but with the upper hand. This is because it had the upper hand. It had the knife and the yam, especially in the budget making process. However, that rivalry, because we would sit in settings and see the kind of attitude and disdain towards the Senate in The National Assembly, is very unhealthy. Both Houses of Parliament need each other. The framers of our Constitution knew why we got two Houses of Parliament. It is as if a bird asks itself for it to fly, which wing does it need, the right or left wing? A bird will need both wings for it to fly. Therefore, this Bill seeks then to provide clarity and give further expression to the provision of the Constitution of this joint determination by both Speakers of the Houses. Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir, since operationalization of the bicameral system, that question has continued to be a sticking point so much that in the early days of the Eleventh Parliament, the Speaker of the Senate, the Rt. hon. Ekwee Ethuro sought the advisory opinion of the Supreme Court in the matter of the Division of Revenue Bill. In that landmark advisory opinion, the Supreme Court stated a finding that has been ignored time and time again. It stated that the Senate should find something that affects the functions of counties in almost every Bill that comes to Parliament making it a Bill that must be considered by both Houses. That is the Supreme Court of the Republic of Kenya, the apex court in this land. Unfortunately, despite the binding nature of decisions of the Supreme Court, the challenge of interpretation of what constitutes a Bill concerning counties continues to oblique us. Appreciating that both Speakers might not always concur on such questions, the Supreme Court went further and proposed a most pragmatic mechanism for the resolution of such disputes. They said ―from a broad purposive view of the Constitution, the intent of the drafters as the regards of the exercise of the legislative powers, was that any disagreement as to the nature of a Bill should be harmoniously settled through mediation. The electronic version of the Senate Hansard Report is for information purposesonly. A certified version of this Report can be obtained from the Hansard Editor, Senate."
}