Suchergebnisse

THE LEGISLATURE HAS BEEN ACCORDED A SPECIAL POSITION AND ROLE IN PARLIAMENTARY DEMOCRACY. LEGISLATORS CLAIM THE RIGHT TO VOICE BOTH THE CONSCIENCE AND THE CONSENSUS OF SOCIETY. HOWEVER, BECAUSE THEY CANNOT POSSIBLY INTERACT DIRECTLY WITH THE WHOLE OF SOCIETY, LEGISLATORS MUST USE INTERMEDIARIES--THE MAJOR ONE BEING THE MASS MEDIA. THIS HAS BROUGHT THE LEGISLATORS AND THE MEDIA TO A POINT WHERE THEY ARE INDISPENSABLE TO ONE ANOTHER. INDEED, THEIR ROLES ARE COMPLEMENTARY.

THE AUTHOR, WHO IS SENIOR CLERK ASSISTANT IN THE KENYAN NATIONAL ASSEMBLY, CONSIDERS A QUESTION OF PARLIAMENTARY PRACTICE AND PROCEDURE. HE LOOKS AT THE CASE OF A SENIOR KENYAN CABINET MINISTER WHO WAS CRITICIZED BY SOME OF HIS FELLOW PARLIAMENTARIANS FOR PRE-EMPTING A NATIONAL ASSEMBLY DEBATE WITH PUBLIC COMMENTS HE MADE AT A PRIOR FUNCTION OUTSIDE THE HOUSE.

THE PRESENT CONSTITUTION OF KENYA HAS ITS ORIGINS IN THE INDEPENDENCE CONSTITUTION WHICH WAS ARRIVED AT AFTER A LONG. BITTER LIBERATION WAR WAGED BY KENYAN NATIONALISTS AGAINST THE BRITISH COLONIAL GOVERNMENT WHICH HAD RULED KENYA SINCE 1895. THE LIBERATION STRUGGLE STARTED ALMOST IMMEDIATELY THAT KENYANS SENSED THAT THE AIM OF THEIR "VISITORS" WAS TO CONTROL THEM. IT CONTINUED TO GAIN MOMENTUM AND LED TO THE DECLARATION OF A STATE OF EMERGENCY IN 1952 AND SUBSEQUENT IMPRISONMENT AND DETENTION OF ITS LEADERS AS A FINAL ATTEMPT BY THE COLONIAL GOVERNMENT TO CONTAIN IT.