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{
    "id": 995258,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/995258/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 49,
    "type": "other",
    "speaker_name": "",
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    "content": "(4) Except as provided otherwise in this Constitution, in any matter in the Senate affecting counties— (a) each county delegation shall have one vote to be cast on behalf of the county by the head of the county delegation or, in the absence of the head of the delegation, by another member of the delegation designated by the head of the delegation; (b) the person who votes on behalf of a delegation shall determine whether or not to vote in support of, or against, the matter, after consulting the other members of the delegation; and (c) the matter is carried only if it is supported by a majority of all the delegations. The practice in our bicameral set-up is to presume that, unless proven otherwise, a Bill passed by one House and transmitted to the other House for consideration has been passed in accordance with the provisions of the Constitution. In the unlikely event that the proceedings in one House of Parliament leading to the passage of a Bill reflect a departure from the strict requirements of the Constitution, consideration of the Bill by the other House would be an exercise in futility. If the Leader of the Majority Party had, for example, raised his point with regard to a Bill transmitted from the Senate for consideration by this House, I would be duty-bound to interrogate, at any stage, whether its passage met the requirements of Article 123 of the Constitution, if the question arose. In such instance, legislative comity would require me to formally reach out to the Speaker of the Senate to seek his verification or clarification on the issue before the Bill or other business progresses to a vote. Consequently, if the clarification was to reveal a procedural failure on the part of the Senate in passing the Bill, or such other business, I would be under obligation to preclude the House from considering the Bill until the failure by the Senate was remedied. That now settles the last questions with respect to whether the House ought to interrogate the procedure applied by the Senate in its passage of a Bill concerning county governments, such Bill having being referred to this House for consideration; and what remedy would be available to the House should it be claimed that the procedure applied by Senate to pass a Bill concerning county governments was in contravention of the Constitution. Having said that, it should not be lost that standing down a Bill referred from the other House on account of a procedural failure is an extreme action, especially where such failure may be detected and arrested beforehand. It would, additionally, not promote cordial relations between the two Houses and the inter-Houses comity as expected of bicameralism. To my mind, any failure of procedure in a House of Parliament casts the entire institution of Parliament in negative light. Cognisant of the provisions of Standing Order 87(5), it therefore rests on each Speaker and the Clerk of each House to prevent any such failure in the first instance, or seek to urgently remedy it upon detection without resorting to the Floor of the Houses. In this way, the procedures of each House are protected from fractious debate that is entirely avoidable. Going forward, my office shall, as practicably as possible, seek to ensure that any question on a Bill touching on any procedure of the other House is arrested and conclusively resolved with the Speaker of the Senate prior to the transaction of any business relating to such Bill. In this regard, I thank the Leader of the Majority Party and other Members for raising these issues in the House for my guidance. My considered findings, therefore, are as follows: 1. THAT, the claims raised by the Leader of the Majority Party and the other Members regarding the procedure which the Senate may have applied to take a The electronic version of the Official Hansard Report is for information purposesonly. A certified version of this Report can be obtained from the Hansard Editor."
}