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"id": 984623,
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"type": "speech",
"speaker_name": "Sen. Sakaja",
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"legal_name": "Johnson Arthur Sakaja",
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"content": "Mr. Speaker, Sir, I have spoken to the CS. We have told him that we will reschedule where he will come in person, virtually, so that we can rate responses on the issues raised. We note that today he has announced that we have 126 cases of Coronavirus Disease (COVID-19). Mr. Speaker, Sir, we just want to note and stress that a pandemic being declared, is not a suspension of the Constitution. This is the time for Parliament to continue playing its oversight role. Parliament remains the one institution mandated to oversight, appropriate, legislate and play its role. No entity will escape any oversight. At this time, the Executive needs to know that we are not coming in an antagonistic manner. We want to support the good work they are doing. We are very proud of Sen. Mutahi Kagwe. He is still a Senator, even as a CS. He is Senator, CS, Hon. Mutahi Kagwe. We are proud of his work and our interventions are to support and to give fresh ideas, to legislate because he cannot legislate from his Ministry, and to help him in dealing with county governments. We want him to know that the stand that is being taken by the Senate is very pragmatic, but in full fidelity to our oath of office, which is to represent the people of the republic of Kenya, 47 million of them. Mr. Speaker, Sir, we are also scheduled to meet other organizations including, trade and workers unions, youth organizations, digital transport forum et cetera. Mr. Speaker, Sir, I want to quickly finish so that Sen. Kasanga can second. The other stakeholders like the Law Society of Kenya (LSK) have requested for additional time to submit memoranda. We have told them it is okay because they have asked the Members, many of whom are in this House, to give them submissions. Mr. Speaker, Sir, on behalf of this Committee and on my own behalf, I wish to sincerely thank all the individuals, groups and organizations that responded to a call for public submissions on this important matter. We wish to assure them that we have reviewed all those submissions and we have taken their views into account. We have also received representations from Kenyans undergoing stress globally. That will be contained in the report. We will still interact with different ministries. Senators have asked about money going to counites. There has been a circular by the Controller of Budget (CoB) that is not clear about whether counties are still receiving money. In as much we want to support the counties and even help them access, some of the submissions from the Council of Governors (CoG) were that counties are asking for things they should ordinarily be doing. When a governor asks to be given money to buy chemicals for fumigation, you query the billions we have been appropriating, what are they being used for? So, we are balancing that. However, we hope that the COVID-19 pandemic does not become an avenue for public maleficence or for misuse of funds as we unfortunately begun to see in some counties. Mr. Speaker, Sir, we will continue to submit progress reports. We will invite Senators. Those who wish to join our online meeting, once they express interest, we will give a few of you the code time at a time, whichever way technology will allow, so that from wherever you are, you can follow the Committee and give us your contributions. 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."
}