Entry Instance

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

{
    "id": 944493,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/944493/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 19,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "Hon. Speaker",
    "speaker_title": "",
    "speaker": null,
    "content": "the 11th Parliament would recall that the first attempt was a temporary substitution of Question Time with “Statements” directed to Chairpersons of relevant Committees for a response, as a way of attempting to align the new constitutional dispensation with the processes of Parliament and, more particularly, in receiving answers to Questions. In this new arrangement, Questions asked by Members were responded to in writing by the relevant Cabinet Secretaries and the responses would be read out on the Floor of the House by the Chairpersons of the relevant departmental committees. Unfortunately, supplementary questions would never receive any responses or even adequate responses from the Chairpersons since they were not the authors of the statements that they read out. Whereas this arrangement worked with difficulties in the interim, it will be recalled that chairpersons of committees faced challenges as they could not comprehensively speak or make undertakings on behalf of the Executive, which they are constitutionally expected to oversee. In 2014, upon recommendations of the Procedure and House Rules Committee, the House considered the provisions of Article 153 of the Constitution which provides for the decisions, responsibility and accountability of the Cabinet with a view to engendering proper accountability by the Executive to Parliament. For avoidance of doubt and for clarity, Article 153(3) and (4) of the Constitution provides: “(1) A Cabinet Secretary shall attend before a Committee of the National Assembly, or the Senate, when required by the Committee, and answer any question concerning a matter for which the Cabinet Secretary is responsible. (2) Cabinet Secretaries shall— (a) act in accordance with this Constitution; and, (b) provide Parliament with full and regular reports concerning matters under their control.” Hon. Members, in another attempt to actualise the requirements of Article 153 of the Constitution and address the challenges faced through the temporary “Statements” procedure, the House yet again amended its Standing Orders to establish a Committee on General Oversight and introduce Cabinet Secretaries Reporting Time. Cabinet Secretaries’Reporting Time was intended to allow a Cabinet Secretary to make a report to the House on any matter under his or her charge. On the other hand, the Committee on General Oversight was intended to enable the attendance of Cabinet Secretaries before a Committee of the whole House chaired by the Speaker or the Deputy Speaker, to respond to Questions raised by Members and whose notice had been given. Hon. Members, as you may recall, on the basis of the doctrine of separation of powers and functions among the arms of Government, the arrangement for Cabinet Secretaries to be accountable to Parliament through the Committee on General Oversight was argued to be untenable by a section of the society who perceived the Committee on General Oversight as another sitting of a full House of Parliament. In view of the foregoing, I issued a ruling on 21st October 2014 staying the provisions of the Standing Orders relating to the Committee on General Oversight and its operations. In that Communication, I also directed the Procedure and House Rules Committee to spearhead consultations with a view to creating a mechanism providing for"
}