verbatim report of constituency public hearings ... - ConstitutionNet

52Stephen Warui Wahome: Yes. Then all the official trips by the President, should be approved by the Parliament first.Otherwise, it will be deemed to have been a private trip. That is all Mr. Chairman.Com. Bishop Njoroge: Thank you very much. Those are very important suggestions. Can I have your memorandum? Thankyou very much. I can see you are the Head of a clan. Can we have Josephat Kagerwa?Com. Bishop Njoroge: Mimi nataka sasa kutoa sheria ingine. Tunataka utupatie points. Ikiwa unataka Ministers wawe kumi,unasema tunataka Ministry iwe ngapi? Kumi. Bila kutwaambia ni kwa sababu gani. Kwa sababu we have so many people andthey must present. Fanya kama vile MP alifanya. Anataja tu moja moja. Tafadhali.Josephat Kagwera: Okay fine. I will start by saying that any amendment that will be done in the Parliament, should involve thepublic through a referendum. Also we would propose that Parliamentary duties should be consistent - That is MP’s should notbe going to the Parliament inconsistently. That inconsistency is bringing what we call the quorum issue.On education, I would say that the government should make it free and available to all citizens. I also want to say that theConstitution should look at the ambiguity that is existing in the children’s Act. Whereby it is said that one can be jailed for a yearor be fined Ksh. Fifty thousand for not taking a child to school. So, we know that poverty is the cause of all this, so we areactually wondering, should one be jailed for being poor? So, that should be addressed.Also the government should enhance on employment outlook in the country, because we know there is high rate ofunemployment in the country. So we are kind of proposing for the formation of bureau of employment and retrenchment thatshould be placed in a competent, or rather, a favorable Ministry that should address all the issues of unemployment. I think theyshould liaise with the poverty eradication commission and the public should be encouraged to give their ways on how they canaddress that.I also want to comment on the participatory governance,whereby civil education should be continuous or should happen nowand then. We should also respect the cultural diversity of a community and this should be incorporated in the Nationalphilosophy. But we should not want issues of ethnicity to come in because it will create tribalism and such like.In conclusion, I would wish that the Constitution address the issue of the independence of the review commissions. So that itshould not bend towards a certain party. Infact it should justify its independence by incorporating all the people’s views andmarks, so that it is a true reflection of what Kenyans need. In that way, we will be happy to note that we have had a directparticipation on matters that are affecting us. Thank you.Com. Bishop Njoroge: Thank you very much for that portion. So, let me tell you this so that I can erase your fear. Once we