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"content": "Second Reading"
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"content": "THE COUNTY BOUNDARIES BILL (SENATE BILLS NO.6 OF 2023)"
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"content": "(Sen. M. Kajwang’ on 05.03.2024)"
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"content": "(Resumption of debate interrupted on 05.03.2024)"
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"speaker_name": "Sen. Wakili Sigei",
"speaker_title": "The Temporary Speaker",
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"content": " Hon. Senators, debate on this Bill was interrupted on 5th March, 2024. At that time, Sen. Osotsi was on the Floor. Sen. Osotsi, you have a balance of three minutes to conclude your contribution to the Bill. Proceed."
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"legal_name": "Osotsi Godfrey Otieno",
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"content": "Thank you, Mr. Temporary Speaker, Sir. I stopped at the point where I was saying that the Bill is a good thing that has happened. We have made several attempts to address this issue in Parliaments of the past but nothing has come out. We have received so many Petitions in this Parliament or in our offices about matters to do with boundary review. The boundary area that has attracted a lot of Petitions is the Maseno/Vihiga Boundary. I represent Vihiga County and have received numerous requests from the people who stay around Maseno area that they would like that matter to be addressed. This matter does not just affect the boundary but other institutions. For example, the churches, hospitals and roads have been some of the issues that have come up. I am very optimistic that with this Bill, this longstanding problem that we have had will be addressed. I had suggested that the Bill should not just focus on one scenario, that is, boundary review. The Bill should also look at the worst-case scenario. What if the review does not happen? We know that this matter of boundary review will be a hotly contested issue. How do we move forward? They must also look at scenario B, which in my view is, if the issue of boundary cannot be resolved, then let us look at the issues of provision of services, revenue sharing, sharing infrastructure, religion and all that. Mr. Temporary Speaker, Sir, I am saying this because a lot of revenue that Maseno, which is in Kisumu gets, emanates from Vihiga County. The electronic version of the Senate Hansard Report is for information purposesonly. A certified version of this Report can be obtained from the Director, Hansard and AudioServices, Senate."
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"speaker_name": "Sen. Wakili Sigei",
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"content": " Sen. Osotsi, your three minutes have since been consumed by your contribution. So, I will invite the hon. Members who have requested on the dashboard to speak to this Bill. Sen. Maanzo, kindly proceed."
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"speaker_name": "Sen. Maanzo",
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"id": 13589,
"legal_name": "Maanzo Daniel Kitonga",
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"content": "Thank you, Mr. Temporary Speaker, Sir. I want to thank Sen. M. Kajwang’ for bringing this Bill back. The County Boundaries Bill, 2023 was previously County Boundaries Bill, 2022 and it was caught up with Parliamentary time. It had been moved by the now Governor of Makueni, who was then Sen. Mutula Kilonzo Jnr. Mr. Temporary Speaker, Sir, the County Boundaries Bill has tried to put together and synchronise the boundaries of the counties in Kenya, bearing in mind that this has just been said by Sen. Osotsi. There have been very many petitions and complaints on boundaries especially when it comes to levies and polling stations. Consequently, the jurisdiction that deals with boundaries is the Independent Boundaries Commission (IEBC). Unfortunately, right now, we do not have IEBC in Kenya. We do not have the commissioners but the rest of the structure remains. However, without the commissioners, there are no boundaries that can be reviewed or synchronised. Therefore, the former Sen. Mutula Kilonzo Jnr came up with this Bill which has now been adapted by the Hon. Moses Otieno Kajwang’ word for word other than his name. Therefore, I rise to support it and say that under Clause 52, it seeks to repeal Cap 105 (A) which is the District and Provinces Act. This Act is the one which laid the disputes in 1992 and when the new Constitution was being made and that is what followed, to come up with the new 47 counties that we have today. Unfortunately, there have been many issues in various borders. Mr. Temporary Speaker, Sir, at times, people get lost with regard to the boundaries as this is highly determined by the chief. You know the administrative boundaries and the county commissioner reigns together with the wards and sub-wards. Additionally, where a Member of the County Assembly is elected, the polling stations do guide the borders. One of the things that has been in dispute are polling stations and markets. Therefore, I want to bring the point closer home. Before I do that, I want to state that the Hon. Mutula Kilonzo Jnr and now Sen. M. Kajwang’ then went on to define each district as of the 1992 situation when the Districts and Provinces Act applied. Mr. Temporary Speaker, Sir, Sen. M. Kajwang’ has gone on to look at the borders as they were then in 1992 for the 47 counties and has gone ahead to describe the ‘border’ of county by county. That is why this County Boundaries Bill has 285 pages. Mr. Temporary Speaker, Sir, because it is something I am familiar with, I may not take the entire time that is required. I want to deal with the Makueni case, where we have a border dispute between Makueni and Taita Taveta counties. I would like to state that many people in Makueni and Taita Taveta counties have migrated vice versa . There are many people settled in Taita Taveta County, originally from Makueni County. There are also many people settled in Makueni County, originally from Taita-Taveta County. One of the border disputes towns has been Mtito Andei. The status of Mtito Andei Town is that some matter was filed in court by three residents of Mtito Andei, who The electronic version of the Senate Hansard Report is for information purposesonly. A certified version of this Report can be obtained from the Director, Hansard and AudioServices, Senate."
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"id": 1395439,
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"type": "speech",
"speaker_name": "Sen. Maanzo",
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"speaker": {
"id": 13589,
"legal_name": "Maanzo Daniel Kitonga",
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"content": "complained without justification that, in fact, they wanted to pay levies to Taita Taveta County, yet they are in Makueni County. When it went to Mombasa courts, the court stated that it had no jurisdiction to deal with the matter and referred the matter to the National Land Commission (NLC). The NLC was unable to deal with the matter for lack of jurisdiction and was sent back to the courts. The court then decided to deal with the matter of the levies alone. When it dealt with that particular matter alone, it was unable to proceed since there is no Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) where the right jurisdiction falls. So, the courts and NLC have no jurisdiction. It is only the IEBC who have jurisdiction. Recently, the Cabinet Secretary for Interior and National Administration was in Makueni, particularly Kambu, to deal with the new district, which touches Mtito Andei, and that border. He set up a Committee of the two county commissioners and the administrators therein, to sit in the next two weeks from that time to arbitrate this particular matter. This we now have one week to go for them to come up with the actual borders between Makueni County and Taita Taveta County. However, the truth of the matter is that the border dispute between Makueni and Taita Taveta counties is a nullity. There is no border dispute. The chief of Mtito Andei reports to the County Commissioner, Makueni County. The Officer Commanding Station (OCS) of Mtito Andei reports to the Commander of Makueni County. The elected Member of County Assembly (MCA) of Mtito Andei Ward is of Makueni County and he sits in the Makueni County Assembly. All the polling stations vote at Makueni County, at no point have they ever voted at a Taita Taveta County. However, the Senator of Taita Taveta County and I are very keen on this particular matter. We do not want these very friendly counties to go into any dispute at all in a matter which does not exist in the first place. We want harmony because, as I have said, most of the people have moved from Makueni to Taita Taveta County and people have moved from Taita Taveta County and trade in Mtito Andei, knowing very well that they are trading in Makueni. Therefore, it is just three people who brought this matter and by their own volition, wanted to pay levies to another county but not Makueni County. Therefore, I would like to state clearly that the particular dispute is really a nullity. We just want this team which has been set up recently, to come up with an answer as quickly as possible. That will be reported to have settled the matter in court. In fact, that particular matter in court, which has hearing dates, we have gotten one of the best lawyers in the eastern region, Senior Counsel Eric Mutua, who was one time the Chairperson of the Law Society of Kenya (LSK), to deal with the matter and is dealing with it competently. However, should this Bill pass before all those are concluded, then we will go by the boundaries put in this Act of Parliament. I believe that will settle the matter once and for all, so that our people can live in harmony. We are keen on the two counties co-existing peacefully. No one should come to Mtindo Andei in Makueni and claim that it belongs to another county. People have tried to politicize this. They come up with fake newspaper pullouts that the court has already determined. These are people who want to cause trouble The electronic version of the Senate Hansard Report is for information purposesonly. A certified version of this Report can be obtained from the Director, Hansard and AudioServices, Senate."
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"type": "speech",
"speaker_name": "Sen. Maanzo",
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"legal_name": "Maanzo Daniel Kitonga",
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"content": "between counties which have been co-existing peacefully. That sort of an idea is criminal and that person should be dealt with in an appropriate manner that a criminal is dealt with, so that people co-exist peacefully. Mr. Temporary Speaker, Sir, while still on this particular matter, on the other side of Taita-Taveta, the last polling station is somewhere in the park. It is even kilometres away from Mtito Andei. When they do public participation, that is where the Governor of Taita-Taveta stops. In the past 12 years or so, there is no single time the Governor of Taita-Taveta ever did public participation in Mtito Andei. Such disputes are duplicated in numerous other counties. This Act will settle the matter once and for all. Therefore, it is imperative that this law, which has really been designed carefully and thoughtfully, will settle disputes in many counties, including the issue of Mtito Andei. I urge the residents of those two counties to wait for the outcome of this Act and the committee that was recently established by the Cabinet Secretary for Interior and National Administration. In the event the court proceeds with the matter, they should accept whatever outcome. No single person of Makueni has been levied by Taita-Taveta County Government or denied to do business. Anybody with a doubt can go to Mtito Andei and make inquiries to all business premises there. They will find that no one has ever come to cause trouble to anybody. The only people who do not wish the two counties well have been brewing trouble, which is totally unnecessary. Mr. Temporary Speaker, Sir, I support all the proposals which have been debated here. There are good schedules, data and historical boundary systems of these two counties. As I support, I look forward to this law being passed so that the matter can be settled once and for all. I thank you."
}
]
}