James Orengo

All parliamentary appearances

Entries 2921 to 2930 of 4273.

• 15 May 2012 in National Assembly: Madam Temporary Deputy Speaker, I beg to move that the Statutes Law Miscellaneous Amendments) Bill, 2012 be read a Second Time. I would like to say, right from the outset, that the hon. Attorney-General is not here to move this Bill. I may not do as much justice as he would but the business of the House and the Government must continue. I have been asked by his office to move this Bill. view
• 15 May 2012 in National Assembly: I would like to say this at the beginning. Generally, you will find that many of the proposed amendments have to do with the new constitutional order that is in place. There are some provisions of the Statute Law, as they exist today, that require to be harmonized much earlier than a comprehensive review. This is because the statutes that are affected by this Bill relate to matters which would require some action or implementation with regard to the areas that are covered by this Bill. I encourage Members who are here that we interrogate these amendments carefully and intensively ... view
• 15 May 2012 in National Assembly: Madam Temporary Deputy Speaker, there is a great Englishman that I like quoting all the time who said that the laws are there for the obedience of the law and poor but for the convenience of the high and mighty. So, if we have such a world view, then we can never really have a truly working democracy that is based on the many values that have come out in Article 10 of our Constitution which every one of us is proud to have been party to its enactment through the people who are actually the makers of that law. view
• 15 May 2012 in National Assembly: So, in principle, I want to deal with some general amendments that really are not controversial and these deal with the Office of the Attorney-General. As you know, the powers and functions of that office were reduced and limited by the new constitutional dispensation and what used to be prosecutorial powers and the responsibilities of the Attorney-General in regard to the criminal system – those particular powers and functions are now with the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP). You will find that a large body of these amendments relate to the Office of the Attorney-General and these affect the Advocates ... view
• 15 May 2012 in National Assembly: Madam Temporary Deputy Speaker, then there are other amendments which are again in my view not very controversial in the sense that we either agree or not that the Truth, Justice and Reconciliation Act has unfinished business and the time for them to conclude their work and report as required by the Truth, Justice and Reconciliation Act of 2008, that time has or is about to expire and within whatever time remains, they cannot be able to do what they must do as required not only under that law but under the general spirit of the National Accord. This was ... view
• 15 May 2012 in National Assembly: Madam Temporary Deputy Speaker, the other important provisions which I think we should look at are in relation to the Political Parties Act and they are important and this has to do with the extension of the time for the appointment of the selection committee. We have not had a substantive occupant of the Office of the Registrar of Political Parties within the provisions of that Act or in the manner which was contemplated and in the general spirit of the Constitution. So, on page 1121, you will find that there are provisions there that will now make it possible ... view
• 15 May 2012 in National Assembly: Madam Temporary Deputy Speaker, but I just want to say this about the Political Parties Act. There was a mischief which was supposed to be cured by the Political Parties Act although at this point I am only concerned with one mischief but there were several mischiefs which were identified at the time when the Political Parties Act was enacted. This is through a history where democracy was being destroyed and killed through an intervention by a domineering part either in power or a party which could use resources and even State power to try and cripple the activities of ... view
• 15 May 2012 in National Assembly: So, one of the most important mischiefs that the Political Parties Act was supposed to address was the fragile positions of political parties that since Independence, this nation has seen the death of many political parties by reason of either some kind of interference by a domineering authority or political force that would then translate into the country becoming a de facto one party system. In fact, at the end of the day in 1963, actually, there was never any law that prohibited Kenyans to form political parties up to the time when I was about to come to this ... view
• 15 May 2012 in National Assembly: Hon. Members know the history of the repeal of Section 2A of the former Constitution. It was not easy to repeal that section. Kenyans had to sacrifice, and more so those who have not had the benefit of coming to this House. They did that to make sure that political parties could survive in a system that made it possible for people to freely operate. Immediately after the repeal of Section 2A, when the House congregated in 1993, the first business of the ruling party then was how to destroy the political parties that were then in the Opposition by ... view
• 15 May 2012 in National Assembly: So, I would plead with the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC), and to the person who is going to be appointed the Registrar of Political Parties; that we cannot have a democracy where people have to go to court on everything in order for the court to make a finding. A clear reading of the law should make it possible for men and women of goodwill, if they want this country to move forward, to know what the law says. We now have pretentions of not understand what the Political Parties Act says. Madam Temporary Deputy Speaker, we may ... view