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{
    "id": 618714,
    "url": "http://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/618714/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 179,
    "type": "other",
    "speaker_name": "",
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    "speaker": null,
    "content": "I commend Sen. (Dr.) Khalwale’s leadership in this Committee for the last one year. When the Committee started looking at the books of Kakamega County, the governor turned his focus on Sen. (Dr.) Khalwale. I want to insist that when this Committee dispenses its duty, it has nothing to do with individuals. Whenever the accounts of a county are being considered, the Senator for that county is invited to the proceedings. But when the governors see those Senators, they become confrontational on the ground. This Committee is supposed to safeguard and do its work in accordance with Article 96 (3). Some of the projects that are being implemented in the counties by the governors should be stopped. For example, in my county so many projects that would have been implemented in the next 20 or 30 years have been done. There is no development vote head at all. Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir, some grapevines in the villages allege that the 2017 campaigns will be competitive and that Senators will be in trouble because the governors have millions of shillings. In my view, the governors get these millions from the projects they are carrying out all around. The Committee on Devolution chaired by Sen. Murkomen should be terminated because it is of no importance. In my county, each County Executive Member (CEC) is building an office headquarter with two or three floors. Therefore, if there are ten CECs, there are ten offices. These buildings will not be completed by the end of this current Parliament but they will roll over to the next. Therefore, a lot of money meant for provision of services for an ordinary citizen is being wasted. Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir, it is important that this Committee Members that have been retained in their respective Committees, should go a notch higher to see to it that their work is done. Most Members of County Assemblies (MCAs) have been paralysed by the executive arm and therefore nothing is going on. In my county, some circulars are sent from Nairobi indicating that there should be one Committee for bursaries in the county. However, the governor and his team have created another committee in each ward. If a county has 30 wards, it means there are 30 committees apart from those already approved. Therefore, there is a lot of money being wasted through claims of sitting allowances. As Sen. Billow mentioned, a number of Motions were passed in the last three years. For instance, the national government should by now have liaised with the county governments to be allocated land to build a public university or a college. In the last few weeks, we have seen the Commission for Higher Education (CHE) closing campuses in various counties which were opened by Kisii University in various counties - This is an aggressive university - instead of encouraging county governments to allocate land to build universities. The question is; where has the Committee on Implementation been? In fact, I wanted to see them last week when Kisii University was being harassed. It should have advised the Ministry of Education to put aside substantial amounts of money for putting up universities instead of closing them up. It is time that we stood firm because a lot of accusations will come our way. The electronic version of the Senate Hansard Report is for information purposes"
}