Heed lessons from past speakers
In what is, for all practical purposes, an unprecedented but otherwise laudable move, the National Assembly has honoured three past Speakers by presenting them with special mementos. Among the mementos that were ceremoniously handed over in the august House by the Speaker Job Ndugai on Tuesday were the Speaker’s Gowns they donned when officiating parliamentary sessions and related businesses. This is by way of showing continuing appreciation for the former Speakers’ sterling services in guiding Parliament through its paces as the Legislative Branch of Government – working in harmony with the other two government branches: the Judiciary and the Executive.
Expressing gratitude for the honour, two of the former Speakers at the ceremony, immediate-past Speaker Anna Makinda (the country’s first and - so far - the only female Speaker, in Office Nov. 10, 2010-to-Nov. 16, 2015) and Pius Msekwa (Speaker: April 28, 1994-to-Nov. 28, 2005), called for continued dignity of the National Assembly in particular, and Parliament as a whole.
How appropriate, we say – especially when it comes to guiding a democratic, multi-political party Legislature.
As we pointedly noted in our edition of November 15, 2015, the post of Parliamentary Speaker is tricky. The holder must be courageous and dignified enough to be able to rise above partisan politics and sentimentalism to functionally coordinate Parliamentary business. We still hold that view today.
