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{
    "id": 584314,
    "url": "http://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/584314/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 322,
    "type": "other",
    "speaker_name": "",
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    "content": "This is a flagship law which is about activating and giving capacity to democracy. For governors or county governments to promote democratic and accountable exercise of power, it is best done through the avenue of the people. Therefore, people are given an opportunity to promote democratic exercise of power at their county level. Today, Sen. (Dr.) Khalwale was speaking to it. Counties are making arbitrary decisions and people are getting frustrated about the wastage and the plunder in the counties. We could interrogate questions about accountability well before massive plunder takes place. The Senate also stands accused of the fact that we do not have the capacity to pre-empt possible wastage and plunder of public resources. If we always must wait for the Auditor-General’s report, day in and day out, it might be too late to salvage the situation. We may prosecute but not recover our resources. Therefore, this Petition law is well conceived. I sit in this Committee and I want to praise ourselves for having this flagship in terms of realizing that it is important at this point in time to tighten the noose of accountability. Governors have tried to evade every form of accountability. They do not want to be summoned by the Senate or appear before county assemblies. When they appear before county assemblies, the county assemblies do not have sufficient gravitas or capacity to audit their executive. They tend to validate foolish or sometimes very basic projects. You ask yourself whether there was enough input by Members of the County Assemblies (MCAs) to secure the interest of their people. Therefore, if county assemblies fail in the realm of governance, this Petition has given the people the right. If you are not asking the hard questions that you ought to be asking, then, this will open an avenue for people to start asking hard questions. This Bill also puts the MCAs on notice. If they fail to perform their functions, the people will perform their functions for them. If they fail to ask the hard questions, people will ask the hard questions for them. That is what this Bill intends to do. We must also allow the avenue that Sen. (Dr.) Khalwale talked about - If one is dissatisfied with the outcome - in some counties; some MCAs are handled like a flock of sheep. Some MCAs are paid to make decisions. Some live in perpetual state of fear, some have no capacity; either educational or political. Also, they may not have the needed courage. Mr. Temporary Speaker, Sir, when this happens, we must allow the avenue for this thing to come before the men and women who sit in this Senate. We do not want a process that will present a petition to county assemblies that will sanitize the transgressions of county assemblies or county governments. The pertinent question that is coming up is who oversights the county assemblies; who oversights the ‘oversightors’? We must be able to petition them on whether they are exercising their mandate. Kenyans should go to county assemblies and interrogate whether they are living up to the objects of Article 125 of the Constitution and whether they are doing oversight, passing laws and the things that the Constitution allows them to do. Therefore, this Petition is a jump-starter of a democratic avenue for the people of the Republic of Kenya to ask the hard questions. This avenue of Petition is also an opportunity for the people to oversight the ‘oversighters’. This is the whole idea of public participation which the governors do not know about. Members of Parliament (MPs) do The electronic version of the Senate Hansard Report is for information purposes only. A certified version of this Report can be obtained from the Hansard Editor, Senate."
}