James Orengo

All parliamentary appearances

Entries 471 to 480 of 4273.

• 28 Apr 2021 in Senate: Mr. Speaker, Sir, a notion should not be passed out there, that there are Members of these two Committees who drove this Committee in a certain direction. Sometimes I do not know where some people put their brains. view
• 28 Apr 2021 in Senate: Mr. Speaker, Sir, they lock their brains somewhere in a toilet and just speak. There are people out there who are telling us to support this Report as if there is anybody saying something different. If you look at the last page of this Report, even Sen. Sakaja who had a minority Report and the Sen. Kang’ata who abstained, there is no contrary recommendation. The recommendation is that the Bill should be passed. Those saying this and that, out there, have never looked at this Report and are trying to find fault where there is no fault. view
• 28 Apr 2021 in Senate: The second issue that I think is more crucial for us is those who are saying the role of Parliament is ceremonial or rubberstamping. Indeed, if our role was rubberstamping, we would need more ink than brains. This is because when you rubberstamp many times, you may run out of ink. The electronic version of the Senate Hansard Report is for information purposesonly. A certified version of this Report can be obtained from the Hansard Editor, Senate. view
• 28 Apr 2021 in Senate: Mr. Speaker, Sir, this Constitution is clear that we have certain responsibilities and it starts from Article 1. People have not distinguished the various roles of Parliament and they think that Parliament is just a Legislature. According to this Constitution, Parliament is more than a Legislature. That is found in Article 1(2) which says: “The people may exercise their sovereign power either directly or through their democratically elected representatives.” That is distinguished with the legislative powers found in 1(3). view
• 28 Apr 2021 in Senate: I want to dwell on the significance of this issue because it is very important. Just in case people forget, at one time we debated the role of Parliament, while this provision was in the Constitution. You find it in no other provision in the Constitution. It is found in Article 94(4), which says: “Parliament shall protect this Constitution and promote the democratic governance of the Republic.” Mr. Speaker, Sir, it talks about the protection of this Constitution. When this Constitution is talking about “this Constitution”, it means it is something to be hallowed and of value. It also means ... view
• 28 Apr 2021 in Senate: Mr. Speaker, Sir, it is only Parliament which can pass or reject the Bill. That is a matter of significance. Why? Let me refer you to another Article of the Constitution, which is very critical. Article 94(3) says: “Parliament may consider and pass amendments to this Constitution, and alter county boundaries as provided for in this Constitution.” The electronic version of the Senate Hansard Report is for information purposesonly. A certified version of this Report can be obtained from the Hansard Editor, Senate. view
• 28 Apr 2021 in Senate: That is a substantive provision in the Constitution. Parliament may amend. The President, county assembly or courts cannot. This provision in very clear words is not for cosmetic value that Parliament may consider and pass amendments to this Constitution. view
• 28 Apr 2021 in Senate: I will address you on this issue because I think it is significant to go through it. Why protect the Constitution? When we were in that Committee on the Constitution, we discussed why the Constitution needs protection. Mr. Speaker, Sir, it is important where this document says that Parliament should protect this Constitution. No other organ of Government is given that authority or power to protect the Constitution. I know that the President is supposed to safeguard and comply by the Constitution, generally. However, the role of Parliament is to protect the Constitution. When a constitutional Bill comes to Parliament, ... view
• 28 Apr 2021 in Senate: My colleague, the Senate Majority Leader has spoken to many of the issues, almost clause by clause. Therefore, it may not be appropriate for me to take a similar trajectory and proceed by analyzing each and every clause. For purposes of seconding this Bill, I will make some observations both in the Bill and also in the Report. Some of the recommendations in the Report are on matters, which are consequential upon amendment of the Constitution. The Senate Majority Leader said that the Executive will partly come to Parliament. They have been given a different title from the one that ... view
• 28 Apr 2021 in Senate: was told. It may be creating a parallel system of delimitation of constituencies; one, which is constitutionalized, and one, which can change at any one time. Again, if you look at that part of the Report, it is not left hanging; they tell you that the Committee and the suggestion of the experts that it actually may be much ado about nothing because on a proper construction of that provision, one would ask the question whether the constituencies have been created or not. If you read that Section properly, the debate should really be; is it a provision that is ... view