James Orengo

All parliamentary appearances

Entries 3921 to 3930 of 4273.

• 25 Mar 2010 in National Assembly: Thank you, Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir, for giving me this opportunity to contribute to this very important Motion. What we are doing today has got historical consequences and impact. We may never feel the impact of what we are engaging in at the moment. One of the most gratifying things about discussing this Motion at this time is that we are doing it in this Chamber where many of the battles were fought for the achievement of the Independence of this country. Many of them who stood here to speak for the people of Kenya are no longer with us. ... view
• 25 Mar 2010 in National Assembly: Remembrance is a very important thing. Every country that forgets her history or even her heroes, is doomed to failure. There is a tradition that is emerging in Kenya that we tend to forget the people who stood against oppression in very oppressive times. Even if they are living heroes, we tend to forget them, except when it suits us to remember them once in a while. The preamble of the Declaration of the Rights of Man document which made the French Assembly in 1789, had the following words:- “The representatives of the French people constituted as a National Assembly ... view
• 25 Mar 2010 in National Assembly: Somebody is saying worse. I can see it is my chairman and I cannot contradict him. Even with those shouts that filled the nation all over that “Moi must go,” we are still in nearly the same situation as we were in 1963 onwards. Hon. Ngilu is also reminding me that there was a prejudiced Christian song where we used to sing: “ Yoteyanawezekana bila Moi !” We thought that individuals by themselves can make a change and that our country can become a better place. In designing a Constitution, we must know the problem that we want to resolve. ... view
• 25 Mar 2010 in National Assembly: So, I want to say that this document in its entirety – I am not saying that it is perfect – but it is better than anything that we have had before, and I commend it to this Parliament and the nation. But in saying that, without leadership, however good the document is, we need men and women who will be guided by the values contained in this document. If we do not live by the values and principles contained in this Constitution, all that is contained in this Constitution will be of no significance. This is because the unmaking ... view
• 25 Mar 2010 in National Assembly: Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir, I have noticed that other than what my learned friend, hon. Kajwang, referred to in his contribution, about the sovereign power of the people, you will notice in the chapter dealing with the Executive, that unlike the present Constitution, the Executive authority of the President and Cabinet Secretary is derived from the people, which is quite unlike the current situation. If I can compare it with what was happening about ten to 15 years ago because the law has not changed significantly, there was a time that we were told that even to imagine or encompass ... view
• 25 Mar 2010 in National Assembly: Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir, I want to end this contribution by saying that the most important chapter in this Constitution is about devolution. Without devolution, I can tell you, we are back to square one, because this is a presidential system. I want to be corrected in another 20 or 30 years that if we do not have devolution, the Presidency we have created is even more powerful than the current President. This is because the current President sits in the Cabinet with elected Members of Parliament. He derives membership of his Cabinet from this Parliament. He sits in Cabinet ... view
• 23 Mar 2010 in National Assembly: Mr. Speaker, Sir, for the convenience of hon. Members, would it be possible that a copies of your directions are made available in our pigeon holes? It will be difficult to retrieve it from the HANSARD as quickly as possible; it is important that when we are debating this very important motion that we strictly comply with your directions. view
• 23 Mar 2010 in National Assembly: Mr. Speaker, Sir, the points brought out by my friend, Mr. Ruto, are important, but I think they are based, with respect, on some fallacies. I think it is because he is reading the Act without reading it together with the Constitution. Indeed, the CoE had indicated that there was a need to amend the Review Act because it came before the constitutional amendments and there were some sections in the Review Act which were not completely in consonance with the constitutional provisions. To answer his question, if you read the Review Act, it takes about a draft Constitution. That ... view
• 23 Mar 2010 in National Assembly: The second fallacy is that Mr. Ruto is still looking for this animal called the constituent assembly. A constituent assembly can actually enact a Constitution! view
• 9 Mar 2010 in National Assembly: Mr. Speaker, Sir, without seeking to clarify what could be the position, could we be allowed to answer this Question tomorrow in the afternoon? view