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{
    "id": 584333,
    "url": "http://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/584333/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 341,
    "type": "other",
    "speaker_name": "",
    "speaker_title": "",
    "speaker": null,
    "content": "minuted public participation fora in their respective jurisdictions, at least, once every two months. As it is, I can go for five years without doing any public participation forum but come to this House and speak. If I do not do public participation, I will be speaking on the basis of what I imagined in my sleep the previous night. We need to make it mandatory that all elected leaders should conduct public barazas or participation forums. We must also continue to strengthen the oversight role of this Parliament. There is now a debate on the public wage bill. There are people who have said that Members of Parliament (MPs) and other elected leaders should have their salaries slashed by 50 per cent. Let me say on this Floor that pay me zero but make sure you facilitate my work. I would rather you do not pay me a salary but make sure that when I go to Homa Bay County, you provide me with a fueled vehicle, accommodation and meals, hall and refreshments for the people who are coming. As it is now, Senators are using their salaries to process that. This Saturday, I will go to close the Agricultural Society of Kenya (ASK) Show in Kendu Bay. It is one of the oldest shows in that part of the world and a venue where many people met their wives because that is where all the beautiful girls and nice boys come out. I will be closing that Show and have to dig into my pocket to fly to Kisumu County, go to Kendu Bay to preside over it and come back to Nairobi. There are certain office holders who will use the funds that they are supposed to be using for development, to open and close events. That is why I say that if you want to pay me zero, do so, but make sure when there is a show in Kendu Bay, give me a vehicle that will pick me from my door, take me to Kendu Bay and bring me back to Nairobi. In that case, I do not need a salary because I used to eat and feed my family before I became a Senator. In conclusion, I congratulate the Speaker for launching a caucus that was called, “Caucus on Evidence Based Oversight and Decision Making”. This is important because if we do not strengthen oversight and make it evidence based, then we shall have failed in our role and the only resort that the public will have will be to file petitions, picket, demonstrate and fight running battles with the police. I also want to congratulate one of our colleagues in this House, Sen. Hassan Omar, who last weekend launched a strategic plan and work plan for his county. At the right time, we need to make it mandatory for every elected leader to have a strategic plan and a work plan. The situation we have right now where a few leaders, and I am not saying most of them, wake up to find out where the next funeral is. If there is no funeral, they want to find out where there is a church gathering. There is some haphazardness in the manner in which we execute our duties. If we have a strategic plan and a work plan, that will guide us, allow the public to understand our strategic focus, give them the assurance that the issues that they would have picketed on or that they would have petitioned this House on or the county assemblies on, would be taken care of within that strategic framework. Mr. Temporary Speaker, Sir, even as we continue to look for funding and facilitation for Senators, we need to make it mandatory that every Senator before getting any facilitation must provide a strategic plan which also will have a proper calendar for public participation because it is only through that that we can reduce the number of petitions that come to Parliament. 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."
}