{"count":1608389,"next":"http://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/?format=json&page=141747","previous":"http://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/?format=json&page=141745","results":[{"id":1433871,"url":"http://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/1433871/?format=json","text_counter":238,"type":"speech","speaker_name":"Kilifi North, UDA","speaker_title":"Hon. Owen Baya","speaker":null,"content":"Thank you, Hon. Temporary Speaker. Leader of the Majority Party, welcome to second the Bill."},{"id":1433872,"url":"http://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/1433872/?format=json","text_counter":239,"type":"speech","speaker_name":"Hon. David Ochieng’","speaker_title":"The Temporary Speaker","speaker":null,"content":" Thank you very much, Members. I hope you have noted what is happening this morning. Chairpersons of Committees can actually allow their deputies to move Motion and second them. Leader of the Majority Party, go ahead and second this Bill."},{"id":1433873,"url":"http://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/1433873/?format=json","text_counter":240,"type":"speech","speaker_name":"Kikuyu, UDA","speaker_title":"Hon. Kimani Ichung’wah","speaker":null,"content":" Thank you, Hon. Temporary Speaker. As I rise to second this Bill, it is indeed true that this is part of the mentorship. This morning, my very able Deputy moved this Bill on my behalf. I am very much available to second it. This should be the spirit of the Chairpersons of committees. It is good to not only allow their vice-chairpersons, but also the rank of committee membership to move Bills and Motions. That is the only way our new Members will learn what happens in the House. In the next Parliament or later within the session of this Parliament, a Member will become a Chairperson but he or she cannot move a Bill. We have seen chairpersons of committees standing up but they do not have an idea on how to move a Bill or Motion."},{"id":1433874,"url":"http://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/1433874/?format=json","text_counter":241,"type":"speech","speaker_name":"Hon. David Ochieng’","speaker_title":"The Temporary Speaker","speaker":null,"content":" These are your chairpersons. Do the needy thing."},{"id":1433875,"url":"http://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/1433875/?format=json","text_counter":242,"type":"scene","speaker_name":"","speaker_title":"","speaker":null,"content":"(Laughter)"},{"id":1433876,"url":"http://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/1433876/?format=json","text_counter":243,"type":"speech","speaker_name":"Kikuyu, UDA","speaker_title":"Hon. Kimani Ichung’wah","speaker":null,"content":" It also speaks volumes to the kind of induction we do. Maybe, the Chairperson, Liaison Committee, our very able Deputy Speaker, should consider another round of induction of chairpersons. Hon. Owen has ably articulated all the Acts of Parliament that are being touched by this Miscellaneous (Amendment) Bill, including the the Children's Act, the Copyright Act, the Scrap Metal Act, the National Employment Authority Act, the Fisheries Management and Development Act of 2016, the Energy Act, the Public Private Partnerships Act of 2021, the Parliamentary Service Act of 2019, and the Judicial Service Act of 2011. As Members are aware, all our Statute Law (Miscellaneous Amendments) Bills, and without the exception of this one, are usually meant to realign our laws or existing statutes with minor amendments that may not necessarily need a substantive Bill to be published for the purpose of amendment. This Bill is no exception. As I said, if you look at the amendments on the Children's Act, they are basically aligning the Act to a court ruling. You know the Children's Act of 2022 had a provision that denied sole male applicants from adopting a child unless that child was a relative. The courts have ruled that to be unconstitutional. So, the amendment is simply aligning with what the courts have ruled. The Copyright Act, as the Hon. Owen Baya ably articulated, touches on the provisions on equitable remuneration of our performers and producers of sound recordings. It seeks to expand the responsibilities of collective management organisations towards authors and performers. This is to ensure that content creators, performers, and producers of sound recordings are properly remunerated, and that management organisations that run these things are not collecting money and administering it in a way that disadvantages the producers of sound recordings and performers. On the Scrap Metal Act, it proposes to provide for a special license for dealing in copper, aluminium, and their alloys. 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."},{"id":1433877,"url":"http://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/1433877/?format=json","text_counter":244,"type":"speech","speaker_name":"Kikuyu, UDA","speaker_title":"Hon. Kimani Ichung’wah","speaker":null,"content":"Hon. Farah, the Deputy Speaker, and the Member for Kieni are always on their seats shouting order or rather affirming order in the House. ( Laughter) But, surprisingly, when he is not on the seat, he is behaving in a manner likely to be described as disorderly. I was attracting their attention so that they may listen. Hon. Farah's constituents have a problem with electricity on the grid, and he knows as much. Part of the problems have emanated from people vandalising transformers and lines on the grid because they are looking for aluminium or copper alloys. Therefore, we want to have a special license for the people who deal with copper and aluminium in order for us to stem the rising cases of vandalism of transformers and other public infrastructure. We have aluminium guardrails on our roads to secure us in case of accidents, but people vandalise them. You remember when the former President Uhuru Kenyatta was commissioning the Standard Gauge Railway Phase Two, he swore in God’s name that he will sign the execution of anybody who dared vandalise them during his tenure. You will be surprised that parts of that line are still being vandalised, especially the guardrails along the corridor. Therefore, there must also be penalties. The amendments which we are now dealing with here will enhance the penalties. This is so that if you are caught vandalising any public infrastructure in the name of acquiring scrap metal, be it aluminium or copper, you will pay hefty fines and penalties. That will deter vandalism and, of course, ensure that those who are trading in scrap metal are trading in scrap metal that is legally acquired, not vandalised from public infrastructure. I do not want to go to each of the Acts because Hon. Owen has ably articulated all the amendments in those Acts, and I thought I could just mention them. I beg to second. Hon. Owen is telling me to amplify the one on the Parliamentary Service Act of 2019. As he mentioned by passing, the proposal seeks to provide that the Parliamentary Service Commission shall be responsible for performing functions necessary for the well-being of Members and staff of Parliament, including settling of your mileage reimbursement rates and other facilitation relating to the management of State officers of Parliament. I do not want to elaborate but Members know what this means. I have never in my life as a Member of Parliament benefited a shilling or a coin in the name of mileage. The Member for Dagoretti North, Hon. Beatrice Elachi, from the time she was a nominated Member of Parliament in Nairobi, and now that she represents a constituency in Nairobi...If you get a lady being elected in a constituency, especially in a volatile constituency like Dagoretti North, you must give respect to that kind of Member. She will tell you she has never benefited a shilling in her time as a Member of Parliament despite the fact that she may have to do more trips to her constituency and back from Parliament within a day or within a week. She does more trips and covers more mileage than a Member like our former Deputy Speaker, Hon. Farah, who will probably go to his constituency once every weekend; travels for 300km to and fro. However, Hon. Beatrice will do 30km five times, probably, in a day. It is possible for the Member of Dagoretti North to be in her office at 7.00 a.m., at 8.30 a.m. she is in her constituency, 9.30 a.m. when the house is rising she is here, at 11.00 a.m. she goes back to her constituency office, comes back to the house, and the same is repeated in the afternoon. She also warrants to get some mileage, but we have never had it to be an issue. For those who benefit, you will appreciate the work that the Parliamentary Service Commission does and why there is need to align the Parliamentary Service Act with those functions of ensuring that they are taking care of your well-being as Members, and also our staff who are doing a very good job for us. It is so that all their welfare matters and well-being are catered for by the Parliamentary Service Commission and not any other body out there. You know what I mean and if you do not, 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."},{"id":1433878,"url":"http://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/1433878/?format=json","text_counter":245,"type":"speech","speaker_name":"Kikuyu, UDA","speaker_title":"Hon. Kimani Ichung’wah","speaker":null,"content":"please, know it is any other body out there. I have not mentioned any other body. I have just said it is important just like the Judicial Service Commission deals with its judicial officers in the Judiciary, Parliament does the same. Parliament is an independent arm of Government just like the Judiciary is an independent arm of Government. Therefore, we must not be treated any differently. If the Judicial Service Commission takes care of the well-being of the members of the Judiciary and their staff, we also need to align our Parliamentary Service Act so that our own Commission takes care of your well-being. You need not have any apologies having a Commission to take care of your well-being even those who benefit from mileage. You benefit from mileage because of the distance you cover as you travel to your constituencies. A Member who is travelling from Tiaty, like the Women Rep for Baringo County, moves close to 800 kilometres away from the Central Business District. I must appreciate what she has to go through compared to me who will move a mere 15 kilometres to Kikuyu and back. The farthest corner of my constituency I think is about 40 kilometres from here. The farthest corner is where my constituency borders Kajiado County and part of the one tip of Narok County. As we engage in other debates, including the one man one shilling, one woman, one vote, we must be cognisant of the kind of country that we all live in and appreciate each other as Kenyans."},{"id":1433879,"url":"http://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/1433879/?format=json","text_counter":246,"type":"scene","speaker_name":"","speaker_title":"","speaker":null,"content":"(Applause)"},{"id":1433880,"url":"http://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/1433880/?format=json","text_counter":247,"type":"speech","speaker_name":"Kikuyu, UDA","speaker_title":"Hon. Kimani Ichung’wah","speaker":null,"content":"It is God who placed us in our various destinations that we call home. Nothing makes Hon. Farah or Hon. Lesuuda not to come and live in Kikuyu. Today, I represent a constituency outside Nairobi. Because of its proximity to Nairobi, it hosts Kenyans of all walks of life from Garissa, Mandera, Tiaty, western Kenya and the far north in Marsabit County. These are Kenyans who have every right to live in Kikuyu and Kiambu. I was telling somebody yesterday that in another 10 or 20 years from today, I may not be the Member of Parliament for Kikuyu Constituency. I do not know who the Member of Parliament for Kikuyu will be. However, any child who would have grown up in Kikuyu and knows Kikuyu, notwithstanding where they come from, could be elected as a Member of Parliament for Kikuyu Constituency. I will not be surprised if at one time the governor position in Kiambu County goes to somebody who does not originally hail from Kiambu. That is the beauty of democracy and that is the kind of a country we want to build. Many people believed that there are communities that can never vote for a presidential candidate from the Rift Valley. However, today we have an elected President who was elected on the basis of what he espoused and stood for, not on the basis of where he came from. That is the reason why, elsewhere we have taken time to painfully stand for what is right and not what is politically expedient or what one thinks is politically popular in their village. We stand for what is right and good for Kenya. I said yesterday that Kenya is now playing at a global stage. We are globalising our country. We cannot afford to dwell on village matters now. We cannot “villagise”, if there is such a word. If there is globalising, please let us not “villagise” our country. We have a beautiful country that we cannot afford to “villagise”; a beautiful country that our President has placed on the global stage. It is globalisation that we should be focusing on, not “villagising” a beautiful country like Kenya."}]}