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{
    "id": 1072719,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/1072719/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 202,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "Sen. Cheruiyot",
    "speaker_title": "",
    "speaker": {
        "id": 13165,
        "legal_name": "Aaron Kipkirui Cheruiyot",
        "slug": "aaron-cheruiyot"
    },
    "content": "Senate of the Republic of Kenya treats and considers such matters when they are brought before us. Mr. Speaker, Sir, there is another very interesting finding. This issue has been a general topic of debate, but it does not feature much in the concluding pages of the report. If you read through the pages, you will find a very mysterious character, the office of the First Lady, which is a stranger in Statute. Like I have said, this is not a problem that is unique to Wajir County. I know of many county governments where this is increasingly becoming a challenge. Members of the cabinet of the various counties even have to give reports. If they are not in favourable finding with the holders of that illegal office, then they know for a fact that they might be out of a job very soon. The Senate needs to set itself strong on this particular issue. We need to interrogate county budgets. I know that in certain counties, those illegal offices even have a budget. Some of those budgets are more endowed than the budget of certain key offices within the county. Therefore, granted this opportunity, this is our chance to set the record straight on whether the Senate condones some of these practices that have been witnessed. Mr. Speaker, Sir, having read the report, I do not know how this House will fail to agree with the findings of this Committee and grant the wish of the citizens of Wajir County, and by extension, the Republic of Kenya. This is a lesson and a wake-up call to many governors to know that if they practice these issues in their counties, they will catch up with them at a particular time. We must laud County Assembly of Wajir, and the rest of our county assemblies need to learn from them. At this time, it is not very common to find county assemblies prosecuting and raising weighty issues as raised in this case. We know many county assemblies are under the capture of their executive. They may not find fault with the county government perhaps because maybe they have been roped into the schemes being described here. Although the report did not establish the charge on failure to report pending bills, it is a very common practice. It is an unfortunate practice that is creeping into almost all our county governments. I do not know if you know any person who is not related to or is a business crony of our county governors and they still trade and do business with various county governments. It is no longer possible. You run a contract and then wait for two, three or four years to get paid. By the time your invoice is due, perhaps the administration has changed. That is the picture painted about Wajir County. Every time the County Government makes a requisition and millions are sent, you end up paying only four, five or six suppliers. What is more is that it is mostly the big, high value contracts worth Kshs40 million, Kshs50 million to 100 million that get paid. It is for reasons that we all know. However, for the young ‘hustlers’ of Wajir County and other people who the county owes Kshs1 million or Kshs5 million never get their dues. Their businesses sink. That is the picture being painted here. We should not excuse such habits. In fact, that is one of the charges for which I do not know how the Committee found the Governor not culpable. On this one, I think the County Assembly properly laid its basis. Fortunately, thanks to our Standing Orders and the Constitution, one of the charges has been confirmed. It leaves us with no option, but to agree with the guilty"
}