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"speaker_name": "Sen. Wamatangi",
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"legal_name": "Paul Kimani Wamatangi",
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"content": "We have to be honest with ourselves. Last week any person in this country watching the debate on the Floor of this House, especially on the Motion that was moved by the Senate Minority Leader, Sen. James Orengo, saw how it was defeated with resounding pomp and song. Among the most jubilant people about the defeat of that Adjournment Motion was the Mover of this Motion. Do we help this country by, first, as admitted by the Mover of the Motion, that we are in a gridlock and that we can only resolve it by further extending it? Further to that, we have in this Order Paper, another three proposals aimed at resolving the same matter. If with the past debates we have had problems, I think the way forward is to deal with the problem at hand without adjourning the debate on the Motion by Sen. Sakaja. Let us dispose of that first Motion and then we move on to the next Motion and deal with it. However, at the end of the day, no one in this Chamber can argue that they have not heard the cries of county governments who do not have funds to operate. Last week the Committee on Finance and Budget, which I am a Member, had discussion with the Cabinet Secretary for Finance and National Treasury on how to ensure funds are being released to the counties because of what has been happening in this House. I do not think it is helpful either to the country or to the Senate to propose to adjourn the process that we started. Last week on Tuesday, we adjourned the debate because of the 9.00 p.m. curfew. We sat here, discussed and debated. This is a Chamber of debate. Issues are resolved in the Senate by talking about them, coming up with proposals and counter proposals. The way forward about the current Motion is to, first, defeat it, proceed with the debate, let Members air their views and let whoever who is disagreeing with either of the proposals put their views on the Table and then from there we can ask ourselves what is the way forward is. However, if we adjourn a hundred times, we will never be able to arrive at a solution. Lastly, continuing with the debate does not mean that anyone who debates is either ignorant or not sensitive to the fact that we need solutions in this country. It is not right to try and depict a picture that by continuing with the debate that we are ignoring, the fact that there are hundreds, thousands and millions of people who need to be recognized with the interests that they have. The people of Kiambu County, Mandera County and, indeed, all counties expect a resolution. I want to propose that we proceed with the discussion. Let us have a healthy debate, proper contributions and a resolution to this matter to ensure that services can continue to be given to county governments upon a decision by the Senate. In my view, we will look worse by being indecisive than being decisive. At the opportune time, if we find that there is a matter that requires to be resolved, then you can advise the House. We can vote on any other proposals for adjournment, but not adjournment because we fear to get into the discussion. It is the wrong premise to adjourn. I oppose."
}