REPUBLIC OF KENYA

THE 12TH PARLIAMENT-THIRD SESSION

NATIONAL ASSEMBLY

REMARKS BY THE LEADER OF MAJORITY PARTY, NATIONAL

ASSEMBLY HON. ADEN DUALE EGH, MP AT THE SECOND LEADERSHIP
RETREAT HELD ON 25TH-28 APRIL, 2019 AT MOMBASA

The Honourable Speaker;

The Honourable Deputy Speaker;
The Leader of Minority Party;
Chairpersons of Committees;
Honourable Members;
Cabinet Secretaries;
Distinguished Guests;

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Ladies and Gentlemen.

It is a great pleasure for me to be here for the Second Leadership Retreat.

You would recall that in August, last year we held a retreat of the House
Leadership, the House Business Committee and the House Rules and
Procedure Committee. I am glad that during this retreat we can now pick up
from where we left and examine the strides we have made as we endeavour
to consolidate synergies and safeguard the gains we have made so far.

Looking at the programme, you will observe that the theme of the
programme is “consolidating synergy and safeguarding the gains for the
Welfare of the Society”. It is quite an interesting theme indeed but what
caught my eye were the words Welfare of the Society. These words appear in
the prayer you always make in the Standing Orders and it reads “Almighty
God, who in your wisdom and goodness have appointed the offices of

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Leaders and Parliaments for the welfare of the society.” This is also the
reasoning behind Article 95(2) of the Constitution which defines one of our
functions as Members of the National Assembly to be deliberating on and
resolving issues of concern to the people.

Ladies and Gentlemen

You would recall, in the last retreat it became obvious as was submitted by
the Leader of Minority Party of the National Assembly that what is of interest
to the public does not necessarily mean public interest. I will not wish to
reopen the debate but allow me to state that the need for us as Members of
Parliament to define what is the meaning of the words “welfare of the
society” cannot also be overstated.

Ladies and Gentlemen

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The welfare of the society should be our guiding star and I am glad that as
the Leader of Majority I have tried to ensure that government business is
processed and considered by the House for the welfare of the great people of
this Nation. The words of the former great President of the United States
Barrack Obama perhaps illuminates what welfare of the society is. Allow me
to quote him. “America isn't Congress. America isn't Washington. America is
the striving immigrant who starts a business, or the mom who works two low-
wage jobs to give her kid a better life. America is the union leader and the
CEO who put aside their differences to make the economy stronger. End of
quote.

Ladies and Gentlemen

In our case, the people of this nation are our clients! So whatever you do if
you are in doubt whether it is for the welfare of the society ask yourself
whom does it seek to benefit? Is it the people? If the answer is yes go for it!

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Ladies and Gentlemen

In terms of the legislative and oversight role of the National Assembly as

enshrined in the Constitution, the House has in this Third Session carried
out several business including: the passage of various bills; considered
various committee Reports; vetting various nominees to various public
offices; and the passage of budget related items among others. I wish to
thank the Chairpersons and vice Chairpersons for the good work they do in
steering the committees to carry out their mandates.

Ten (10) Bills both from the National Assembly and Senate Bills have been
forwarded to the Senate for consideration. There is however a worrying
trend from the Senate. The Senate has been delaying to consider National
Assembly Bills with some taking up to a year without feedback from the
Senate. Case in point is the Physical Planning Bill, 2017 which the Senate
took a record nine months to give us feedback long after the National

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Assembly had passed it! This was notwithstanding that that the Physical
Planning Bill, 2017 is even a Bill to implement Article 66 of the
Constitution. I will not say anything more on the inordinate delay by the
Senate but I think the Senate is doing a disservice to the people of this great
nation who look up to them in executing its legislative role. I could list more
Bills where the Senate has taken its sweet time.

What is even worrying is when you finally receive feedback from the Senate
on our Bills. Their amendments are not only ambiguous, conflicting but do
not also add value to the Bill. Why would a House spend time deleting the
word Parliament and substituting with the words National Assembly and
the Senate when Article 93 of the Constitution is clear that Parliament
means both Houses of Parliament? Then you make these amendment nearly
twenty pages deleting through the Bill the word Parliament. I think it’s time
the Senate took its legislative role seriously instead of wasting time
introducing laws that do not make sense.

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As you may be aware, the Senate through Senator Sakaja and Senator
Mutula have also a legislative proposal on how Bills concerning county
governments should be considered, notwithstanding that Article 110(3) of
the Constitution is clear that the two Speakers of Parliament are the ones
who resolve the question of whether a Bill concerns county government or
not.

I think time is ripe for us as legislators and citizens of this country to ask
ourselves a number of questions on the relevance of the Senate:

1. Why does the Senate repeatedly indulge in matters which are

sometimes out rightly unconstitutional?
2. Why does the Senate constantly overstep into the mandate of National
Assembly?
3. Why does the Senate severally conflict with County Assemblies and
County Governments in general?

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 4. Why does the Senate constantly delay in processing of legislation that
is of National importance and do so repeatedly?
5. Why does the Senate always invoke a misplaced principle they call
“equality of the Houses”, despite the fact that the Constitution
established the Houses unequally- one as more legislative mandate,
exclusive jurisdiction on budget and money matters, vetting of state
officers; leadership offices under Article 108 of the Constitution while
the other does not have these.

Mr. Speaker, I feel these incidences imply that this is not the problem of the
Senate alone, but that of the architecture of the Constitution with respect to
the place of the Senate. Mr. Speaker, when you have a problem child in a
family or indeed in business, you take a conscious decision to deal with the
problem of the child so as to ensure success of the rest of the family or
business. Can we consciously and selflessly ask ourselves for how long
as a Country do we need to continue with the Senate in its current

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form under Article 96 of the Constitution? Can we either go fully
bicameral or bite the bullet, do away with the Senate and become
unicameral again! The current one is a deception of bicameralism.

Ladies and Gentlemen

In view of this on the question of whether the House has resolved the issues
of concern to the people or acted in the welfare of the society the answer is
yes. We will do all we can to execute our mandate effectively! Our plates are
full with work and we have no option but to deliver. I am sure all of you
remember Paul Ryan who served as the 54th Speaker of the United States
House of Representatives and was also the 2012 vice presidential nominee
of the Republican Party. The Speaker apparently used to go home only on
Fridays. His office was partitioned into two one for working and the other for
sleeping at night. He had so much to do that he hardly had a chance to go
home and despite having a place to sleep next to his office, his staff

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reportedly never saw him sleep! I am not suggesting that our own
Honourable Speaker do the same. We may not have to convert our offices to
places of sleeping. However, we can assure you as the House Leadership
that we are on over-drive to deliver for our people whom we represent!

Ladies and Gentlemen

Having said so, I also hope that we have a chance during this retreat to
review the resolutions we agreed on last time we met. Resolutions are of no
use unless implemented and I therefore do hope that the Chairpersons of
Committees will give us feedback on progress made since the last leadership
retreat especially on question time. I have seen from the programme the
Executive is well represented so let us utilise this retreat to discuss areas of
concern to the House as we seek to improve on service delivery. I always
take time to review past resolutions and where action is required on my
office I act expediently!

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You would recall in the recently concluded devolution conference held in
Kirinyaga County one of the resolutions that was made was that the
National Assembly would amend Article 203 of the Constitution to require
approval of audited accounts in not more than one year. I am glad that the
Cabinet Secretary for Treasury has been invited to this retreat and with the
Chairperson of Finance and National Planning Committee and Chairperson
of Budget and Appropriations Committee we will discuss how this can be
implemented! Timely implementation of resolutions can also be termed as a
key competence of acting for the welfare of the society. As you all know
financial resources are key for the attainment of the objects of devolution as
enshrined in Article 174 of the Constitution.

Ladies and Gentlemen

As I conclude, I wish to thank all of you for being here amidst your busy
schedules. Let us have meaningful honest deliberations! Where we have

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achieved lets us pat our backs, where we have failed, let us be candid to
admit so and look for ways to correct the mistakes. We must also engage on
how we can maximize on the performance of our roles which of course is not
an issue that we can do alone but we need to engage the other arms of
Government on how best we can work together in areas of mutual interest
and build synergies! The famous African proverb that when you walk a
journey alone you never reach far should be the basis in which we build
synergies! It is therefore my prayer that we will walk together for the welfare
of the great people of Kenya.

Points to ponder

May I ask this for the fourth time, and I hope that the vice chair of the
Parliamentary Service Commission will address it tomorrow -

1. Is the commission having any plans to create caucus rooms for the
Majority and the Minority Parties? At least two large rooms will be
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 sufficient for now. If we are to retain the authority of Parliament,
caucus rooms must be catered for; whether it is in the new building
that is coming up or the existing ones;
2. On security, now that the rains have checked in will our staff be able
to screen motor vehicles and individuals under the rain. A basic thing
like a canopy which can be installed over night should be considered.
Otherwise the officers will be pretending to be doing the screening,
while it is not possible to; and
3. May I request that at the end of this meeting we prioritize
consideration of Reports from the Independent Commissions and
Offices in the same manner that we prioritize Reports of Committees.

As a politician and a leader, I must observe that the politics of inter-party

and intra-party wrangles should not take fore front or divide us, and it
should not prejudice legislative business in the House. We should not be
our own enemies as Members, because this creates animosity towards us

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from the media, judiciary, public and even civil servants. In this regard, this
can also be used to tear us apart. Those of us who are serving a third term
and above have that experience and know this very well.

Thank you very much! God bless you!

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