Entry Instance

HTTP 200 OK
Allow: GET, PUT, PATCH, DELETE, HEAD, OPTIONS
Content-Type: application/json
Vary: Accept

{
    "id": 903202,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/903202/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 247,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "Sen. Sakaja",
    "speaker_title": "",
    "speaker": {
        "id": 13131,
        "legal_name": "Johnson Arthur Sakaja",
        "slug": "johnson-arthur-sakaja"
    },
    "content": "a) the imposition, abolition, remission, alteration or regulation of any tax; b) the imposition of charges on a public fund, variation or repeal of any of those charges; c) the appropriation, receipt, custody, investment or issue of public money; and d) the raising or guaranteeing of any loan or its repayment by a county government. You will recall that towards the expiry of the Eleventh Parliament, there were close to 30 Senate Bills that lapsed in the National Assembly because after the First Reading in the National Assembly, nothing else happened. They just ignored those Bills. We are providing in this Bill that when a Bill concerning county governments is referred to a House of Parliament, and the House fails to pass the Bill in one Session, the Bill shall be processed in accordance with Article 113 of the Constitution which provides for mediation. That will become a direct channel where we go to. Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir, this will mean that failure to process the Bill would be deemed as rejection of the Bill. Therefore, the provisions on mediation apply. We cannot be sending Bills to that House and they just sit on them or put them on the shelves and say ―leave the Senate alone.‖ Similarly, in good faith, we, as the Senate, should also expedite Bills that come from the National Assembly. I urge this honourable House to support this Bill and also call upon the National Assembly to support this Bill for the benefit of the people of Kenya. I have been discussing with Members of the National Assembly on many issues. After the last election, we have a former governor who is now a Senator. The former Governor of Bungoma County is a Senator by virtue of him being the Speaker of the Senate. We also have previous Members of the Senate who are now Members of the National Assembly while others are Members of the County Assembly (MCAs). We have former Senators who are now governors. We have former Members of the National Assembly like yours truly, who are now in the Senate. Whenever we legislate, let us not think about our present situation. Let us legislate in fairness knowing that tomorrow, you might be anywhere. Let us do what is right for the people of Kenya. This unhealthy competition between the Houses does not add ugali to the table of Kenyans. In fact, sometimes we act in a very juvenile manner. The sibling rivalry should have ended; it should have just been the teething process in the Eleventh Parliament. By now we should be able to respect each other. We should respect the place of the National Assembly and they should respect the place of the Senate as Parliament acting in concert. We are only Parliament when we are together. When we are not together, we are the National Assembly and the Senate. In fact, some the Bills that they have passed should be looked at as Acts of the National Assembly because they are not Acts of Parliament without the input of the Senate. When I talk of the input of the Senate, I do not mean that every Bill should come to the Senate. The input of the Senate is in two stages. One, during the decision on concurrence. That is an input by the Senate. When the Speaker of the Senate is consulted by the Speaker of the National Assembly, that is input by the Senate. If they feel that that is a Bill that can go through the National assembly alone and that discussion has been done, then the Senate would be deemed to have participated. Secondly, the input of the 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."
}