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"type": "speech",
"speaker_name": "Sen. Veronica Maina",
"speaker_title": "The Temporary Speaker",
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"content": "Hon. Senators, I will now re-organise the Order Paper and request the Clerk to call out Order No.23."
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"content": "BILL"
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"content": "Second Reading"
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"content": "THE INTERGOVERNMENTAL RELATIONS AMENDMENT BILL, (SENATE BILL NO.12 OF 2024)"
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"speaker_name": "Sen. Cheruiyot",
"speaker_title": "The Senate Majority Leader",
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"legal_name": "Aaron Kipkirui Cheruiyot",
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"content": " Madam Temporary Speaker, I beg to move that the Intergovernmental Relations Amendment Bill, (Senate Bill No.12 of 2024), be now read a Second Time. This is a very simple and straightforward Bill. It is something that we have debated before and tried to bring consensus on it. Sen. M. Kajwang’ and Sen. (Dr.) Khalwale will remember the very difficult relationships we have had between the Senate and the Council of Governors (CoG). In fact, in our initial Report of the Senate Committee on Finance and Budget, we pointed out to the Controller of Budget (CoB) that it was illegal and unconstitutional for counties to continue sending resources to an unregistered entity. For many seasons, we could not agree with our colleague leaders, the governors of this Republic, on how to treat that particular institution. This Bill seeks to establish a long-standing legal relationship between the CoG, the national Government, the Senate, and many other institutions about it."
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"type": "speech",
"speaker_name": "Sen. Cheruiyot",
"speaker_title": "The Senate Majority Leader",
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"legal_name": "Aaron Kipkirui Cheruiyot",
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"content": "Just by way of background, this Bill was first published on 12th May, 2024 as Bill No.12 of 2024. This Bill seeks to amend the already existing Intergovernmental Relations Act of 2012. Remember that this Bill was actually passed pre-devolution. These are part of what you would call, ‘the Naivasha Bills’. I do not know if Sen. Mungatana was in Naivasha; I suspect he was. Yes, so my memory is right. That was when they were setting up the various enabling legislations to support devolution. At that point, this was mostly about theory and had very little to do with actually the reality of the day. At that particular time, it was envisioned; and people were discussing devolution based on theory and what they had seen in other countries. Nobody had a clear understanding of how it would work and operate in Kenya. Therefore, the Naivasha Parliamentary Committee came up with an array of Bills, many of them that we have either repealed in total or enhanced their understanding of the operations of county governments over the years. This Bill seeks to amend the Intergovernmental Relations Act to establish a structured framework for intergovernmental relations. This is to enhance intergovernmental relations among the national Government, county executive and county assemblies. I need not make a pitch for why this needs to be established. Sen. Cherarkey spoke on this Floor just a few minutes ago and I pointed out to him on the need for us to expeditiously consider this Bill. It actually addresses many of the concerns that continue to arise during the audit process of the operations of our county governments and the executives and the national Government, so that it is not just left to the whims of those that are in office at that particular time, but it becomes actually established in law of this relationship. The Bill proposes to provide a vertical role of an intergovernmental relations agency and enhance its functions and powers. It proposes to amend the Intergovernmental Relations Act to provide for the Council of Governors Secretariat, as well as County Assembly Forum (CAF) Secretariat to provide for their role in horizontal intergovernmental relations. You know very well that in 2016 when the Senate and the County Assemblies established the Legislative Summit in Mombasa, part of the takeaways of that particular Conference eight years ago, was to set up CAF as anchored in law, so as to be the lead lobby agency for our county assemblies. County Assemblies do an extremely important job as far as entrenching devolution in these counties is concerned. This House, being the primary institution charged with the responsibility of anchoring devolution in our country, must work hard to ensure that any institution that works towards achieving that particular objective is anchored in law. Madam Temporary Speaker, it is unfortunate that it has taken us this long to listen and agree to the proposal that came from our colleagues in the county assemblies as well. Many times, those of you that have attended the Legislative Assemblies Forum where you bring together county assemblies and the Senate; apart from sometimes the adhominem arguments about car grants and what not, there is more serious discussion that normally goes on."
},
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"id": 1462378,
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"type": "speech",
"speaker_name": "Sen. Cheruiyot",
"speaker_title": "The Senate Majority Leader",
"speaker": {
"id": 13165,
"legal_name": "Aaron Kipkirui Cheruiyot",
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"content": "This is one of the serious discussions that comes out of that particular forum and they ask us to anchor them in law for a horizontal relationship with the county governments so that they are able to perform their duties and roles better. I have been around all these years that this House has existed and I feel bad about the fact that, we, as the Senate, have actually been unfair to our colleagues who serve in the county assemblies. Sen. (Dr.) Khalwale, do you know that even the offices of leadership in our county assemblies are not anchored in any legislation or any law? It is expected of us, especially the Senate, which understands the importance of proper leadership in our county assemblies to establish that, so that they are able to hold governors to account. That is why we need a County Assemblies Forum (CAF) that is not just a lobby group. What exists today is simply a lobby group, where like-minded people come together and continue to lobby for and on behalf of our county assemblies. That is why there is even a splinter group, the one that Sen. Cherarkey mentioned just a few minutes ago. It is called the Association of Members of the County Assemblies (AMCA). CAF brings together the Speakers, the Clerks and the Members of County Assemblies. The MCAs long got tired of waiting for CAF to bring out their issues and make sure they are properly addressed and so they set up an institution of their own, the one called AMCA. I have told them many times that while I may agree with them in the diagnosis of the challenge that county assemblies face, I do not agree with their final prescription, which is the MCAs forming a union that is a body corporate separate to them. CAF brings together all the working organs and offices of the county assemblies and that is part of the proposal that is being given here. To the specifics of the Bill, it proposes to change the name of the Intergovernmental Relations Technical Committee (IGRTC). That name is a mouthful. The committee is headed by a gentleman, whose name I keep forgetting. He is a very good friend of ours who never misses either devolution conferences or legislative summits to speak on behalf of the institution. We propose to rename it Intergovernmental Relations Agency. We are not creating a new institution, but just renaming it, so that it is easier for everybody to relate to and understand what it is all about. By having the word “technical” in that name, it reduces even their seriousness and how people perceive them. They imagine these are people whose duty is just to provide technical advice and it ends there. That is why we want to rename it such that when they speak, people listen, appreciate and understand what that institution does. This legislative proposal proposes to remove the Principal Secretary (PS) responsible for matters of devolution from the IGRTC. We feel that the presence of the PS in that institution was misplaced. This is purely about our county governments and their assemblies. There will be another level at which they interact but not necessarily sitting together on one board. This Bill also provides the qualifications and terms of the chairperson and members of the committee. Like any agency, you must set up the time or period for which people must serve. Like any good institution, it does not matter how talented you are."
},
{
"id": 1462379,
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"type": "speech",
"speaker_name": "Sen. Cheruiyot",
"speaker_title": "The Senate Majority Leader",
"speaker": {
"id": 13165,
"legal_name": "Aaron Kipkirui Cheruiyot",
"slug": "aaron-cheruiyot"
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"content": "Even the best dancers must know when to exit the stage. That is why I like legislative proposals that increasingly come to this House for setting up time limits. They are put in law, so that you do not have people overstaying in office. I do not believe in people who refuse to leave office. This Bill also proposes to enhance the functions of the Intergovernmental Relations Agency to include following up on summit resolutions. Remember what I mentioned a few minutes ago. In passing this law, I am fulfilling a summit resolution that was made more than eight years ago. That was in 2016 and I think we were at Pride Inn Paradise Beach Resort if my memory serves me right. That is why we need such an agency, so that once resolutions have been passed by the summit and other institutions that work along the lines of devolution, there is a body corporate that follows through and ensures that that comes to life. It includes also maintaining a repository of information and knowledge on intergovernmental matters, coordinating the development of a standardised costing framework for the transferred functions in line with Article 187 of the Constitution, and witnessing the execution of all relevant legal instruments pertaining transfer of functions. Transfer of functions is a topic that we need to bury. When President William Ruto came to office, at his Inaugural Speech at Moi International Sports Centre, Kasarani, he committed to the country that we need to complete the costing and transfer of functions to the devolved units. Just like during the previous administrations, that is a promise that continues to be work in progress without a definite date of when that will come to an end. This is one of the key and core responsibilities of this agency, especially with the absence of interference by the national Government because we have removed the PS representing the national Government, so that this is purely about county governments and their assemblies. They can do the costing and agree with the National Treasury and raise matters at the summit, so that we bury this conversation about transfer of functions. Clause 4 proposes to give the Intergovernmental Relations Agency powers to gather, by such means as it considers appropriate, any relevant information of reports where it considers necessary to perform its functions. It will give advice on disputes and take measures it considers necessary to ensure that the principles of cooperative government as set out in Articles 189 and 6 of our Constitution are achieved, ensuring that there is a better coordinated relationship between county and national governments. Article 189 of our Constitution envisions a situation where counties and the national Government are in sync in terms of service delivery to the Kenyan citizens. It should not be the push and pull that we were accustomed to, especially in the formative years of devolution. I know things have gotten better over the past couple of years, but we do not want a relationship that is founded on the whims of good relations between men and women who head these institutions. We want it set out in the law, so that it does not matter who is in office. We need a credible and strong institution that is duty-bound. It should be set out in law to ensure that this happens. That is how you build a cohesive and prosperous nation. This Bill also proposes establishment of the Council of Governors (CoG) secretariat in law and sources of funding. I know the CoG receives resources, for"
},
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"id": 1462380,
"url": "http://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/1462380/?format=api",
"text_counter": 228,
"type": "speech",
"speaker_name": "Sen. Cheruiyot",
"speaker_title": "The Senate Majority Leader",
"speaker": {
"id": 13165,
"legal_name": "Aaron Kipkirui Cheruiyot",
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"content": "example, from the national Government because part of what they do are responsibilities that are shared across the two levels of government. They also receive contributions which are informally set. I think it is an equitable amount from all the 47 county governments. With the establishment of the CoG secretariat in law, our county governments will make contributions without being offensive to the law. As they do it, it continues to raise audit queries in almost all our 47 county governments because they are donating to a body corporate that is foreign and alien to the operations of our law on devolution. With the passage of this Bill, that will be history. It will ensure that there are mandatory subscriptions from county governments and even donations to the CoG. There are many Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs), for example, that want to partner with the CoG in entrenching the beauty of devolution in our country by making sure that it succeeds and all the other forms and organs of that particular institution. Setting it up in law will assure those who want to work with these institutions have a good institution to work with that is set up in law whose leadership is known and agenda is clear. That way, people can donate. It also provides for the establishment of the County Assemblies Forum (CAF), its function, secretariat, sources of funding, as well as subscription from the county assemblies. I have mentioned why this is important. CAF is also a body corporate that needs to be the anchor link between the Senate and our county assemblies by ensuring that there is a standard practice and a reporting mechanism. I do not see why, for example, many of our committees in the county assemblies do not mimic or copy word for word how we do our reports. We have Offices of Speakers. If you go to many of our county assemblies – I am sorry to say this – you will find that the speaker is the law, which is not what our Constitution envisions. The Speaker should be an arbiter, just like the Speakers in the Houses of Parliament here. They do not decide. I follow what happens in many of our county assemblies. As a leader, I see"
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"content": "WhatsApp"
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