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{
    "id": 991463,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/991463/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 309,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "Ruaraka, ODM",
    "speaker_title": "Hon. T.J. Kajwang’",
    "speaker": {
        "id": 2712,
        "legal_name": "Tom Joseph Kajwang'",
        "slug": "kajwang-tom-joseph-francis"
    },
    "content": "So, the Parliamentary Service Commission has a facilitative role. We may go back to the debate we had in the 11th Parliament when we said that Members should carry a tablet or an iPad. There were heated discussions, with people saying we had increased our allowances and now we wanted to walk with iPads. We were just creating a situation in which Members are better equipped to be able to participate in the proceedings of the Assembly. In one of those rules on the use of technology, we have said that the Clerk shall facilitate the participation of Members. Meaning that we will have some standard device. By the way, I have been told that if you login on your phone to participate in the virtual proceedings and a call comes, the virtual proceedings are cancelled and you have to attend to the call. In other words, you must have another device other than the phone you regularly use to be able to participate in the virtual proceedings. These are some of the principles that we have in this Report, and I urge Members to support it. We have also come up with a distinction between what is deliberative and what is the business of the House. A Member is free to join in from wherever he or she is and deliberate on those issues which do not call for a vote. For example, statements or debate on adjournment of the House on an urgent matter. But on issues which call for a vote, remember no jurisdiction on earth has a virtual voting system. You can challenge me on this. No jurisdiction on earth, including America and Britain, has a virtual voting system. They still fall back to physical voting. So, even if Members are out there debating, we must have some guidelines that bring in Members, even if in batches, to vote. One group may come in and vote, followed by another group, until we have all the votes and we are able to verify those votes. That is the only time we will know that what we discuss here comes from the will of the people because we are the representatives of the people. That is the principle of the Constitution. Otherwise, Hon. Speaker, allow me to second this Motion. When we develop the guidelines, we will have a way in which all Members will be consulted in some kind of stakeholder engagement so that they are able to give us their views on how they want these guidelines to be. The Speaker will rely on the recommendations of the Committee. Thank you so much, Hon. Speaker. I second."
}