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"id": 983922,
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"type": "speech",
"speaker_name": "Sen. Sakaja",
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"speaker": {
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"legal_name": "Johnson Arthur Sakaja",
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"content": "There is a reason Article 1 of the Constitution says that sovereign power belongs to the people. There are two ways to express it; either directly or through their elected representatives. That is the reason the Congress of the United States has not adjourned. Similarly, the House of Commons and the House of Lords have not adjourned because, it is exceptional circumstances, maybe even in a state of emergency, that then people can suspend that sovereignty and leave it to other arms of Government, like the military or the executive. Even though I agree with the amendment by Sen. Ochillo-Ayacko on principle, I am against this adjournment of the Senate, for scientific and legal reasons. The legal reasons are that the people today need us more than before. The action that is being taken at a time of crisis needs oversight. We need to ask questions and in many different aspects. Questions must be asked. There is no value in Sen. Mwaruma going to walk around hospitals in Taita- Taveta. Kenyans need him more here to oversight what interventions are being done on the national response. It is not that there are 67 people here every day; just look at how many we are here right now. Many times, we are fewer. I have given an example of the Congress that has just passed what we call The Corona Relief Bill. What legislative intervention are we giving Kenyans at this point? There is a Coronavirus Disease response legislation being debated in the House of Lords as it has come from the House of Commons. What are we doing apart from going home? Madam Temporary Speaker, in those 14 days, I am glad that you are a scholar and an academician, scientifically, at the outset of a pandemic or a disease like this, the first two weeks are not the time to quarantine because the cases will definitely go up. You must wait for a threshold. If you look at any management of epidemics such as this, there is a threshold of a number of cases that then can lead to slowing down, scaling down or shutting down. As much as I support the Government’s initiative, the Government has intervened and said that we do not do what is not essential. However, as I asked earlier: Is representation of the people and oversight at a time of crisis an essential service? It is extremely essential. Here, we enjoy the comfort of having sanitizers, running water to wash our hands, sit at a social distance and address these issues. We are safer than the people we represent. In these 14 days, what are we going to do? In fact, if Nairobi scientifically or in terms of pandemic is seen as ground zero, where there have been cases, sending 67 people to the counties is going against the whole thinking of the quarantining. This is because in case anyone of us has the virus, we will infect people in the counties. So, we will actually be spreading it. That is what happened in Milan; people moved away and ended up spreading it. Lockdown is done when a mathematical level of infections occurs and there are many illustrations that we have seen internationally. For now, that sovereignty of Kenyans needs to be exercised. We need to ask questions such as: Is there an economic stimulus that we are thinking about because there are people who will be affected right now? If the Committee on Finance and Budget was working, it would halt some taxes on certain essential commodities. That is the work we should be doing right now. 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."
}