Entry Instance

HTTP 200 OK
Allow: GET, PUT, PATCH, DELETE, HEAD, OPTIONS
Content-Type: application/json
Vary: Accept

{
    "id": 543871,
    "url": "http://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/543871/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 212,
    "type": "other",
    "speaker_name": "",
    "speaker_title": "",
    "speaker": null,
    "content": "deliver. Once you open this position to be competitive and people apply on the basis of certificates and so forth, you will lose the local touch. I fully support this Bill and hope that amendments will come at the Committee stage to enrich this idea. In places like Trans Nzoia, for instance, they have been doing a very good job of ensuring there is cohesion. Trans Nzoia is a place where we have all the 42 tribes of Kenya. Therefore, in a village, you will have to get an elder to represent each ethnic group for it to be well constituted. I believe that, that provision will also be made to ensure that there is representation, cohesion and participation as required in the Constitution. This will also ensure that the articles in the Constitution that require inclusiveness and participation are adhered to. Through the elders, we shall have made sure that the community is involved in whatever is happening in the counties. But the county government also has to be involved in some way. It should be involved in the tapping of the input of these elders whenever programmes and projects have to be implemented. Given the way public participation is being done now in the counties, I am afraid that these are just rubberstamping decisions that the executive has already decided and it is not being done in a fair manner. First, meetings are called at very short notices. This does not give members of the public time to prepare and make reasonable and well thought out considerations and contributions. It is very important that, perhaps, at some stage, we legislate as the Senate on how public participation fora have to be run. Unfortunately, when we wanted to have it for leaders, we were not able to do it despite the fact that we had enacted the Bill. Let us leave it at that because the matter is in court. At the local level, there must be public participation fully. You will recall that in the various fora that we had with the speakers of the county assemblies in Mombasa and the latest one on devolution in Kisumu, the issue of public participation came up very well. There is need for all interested parties to be involved in whatever happens in the counties."
}