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{
"id": 1074620,
"url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/1074620/?format=api",
"text_counter": 75,
"type": "speech",
"speaker_name": "Sen. M. Kajwang’",
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"speaker": {
"id": 13162,
"legal_name": "Moses Otieno Kajwang'",
"slug": "moses-otieno-kajwang"
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"content": "Senate’s consideration of the request by a municipality to be made a City. All the same, I do recall, you directed that the matter should have been concluded in 60 days, and therefore, our report was due on 25th February 2020. Mr. Speaker, Sir, in a bi-cameral Parliament, this is the only responsibility where the Senate is not subjected to the National Assembly. Once we make a resolution today that we do agree with the report of the Committee, that Nakuru Municipality becomes a City, you shall walk alone to State House not with the Speaker of the National Assembly to deliver the resolution to the President. You shall go directly to State House to deliver the resolution to the President and after that, the President may issue a charter and make Nakuru a city. Mr. Speaker, Sir, the process of a municipality becoming a city is well defined in the Constitution, Article 184 that calls for national legislation to provide for classification and conferment of status of cities and urban areas. The national legislation that is referred to in Article 184 of the Constitution is the Urban Areas and Cities Act. The people who came up with this Act recognized the important role of the Senate in matters to do with devolution. The process starts when the municipality board writes to the County Executive Committee (CEC) that they wish to be upgraded to a city. Once the CEC receives the request from the municipality board, the CEC advises the governor that they proceed and the governor establishes an ad-hoc committee. The ad-hoc committee at the county level has representation from the Institute of Certified Public Accountants, the Law Society of Kenya, the Institute of Surveyors, Institute of Planners, Institute of Architects and the business community. Therefore, when this matter starts, it is initiated by the municipality board and referred to a team of experts, which is then called an ad-hoc committee. Once the ad-hoc committee establishes that the municipality is fit to become a city in line with the criteria set out in the Urban Areas and Cities Act, the county assembly receives that resolution. If the Assembly is convinced, it conveys a resolution to the governor who then causes the clerk of the assembly to inform the Senate of that resolution. When the Senate processes the application, the matter goes to the President. Mr. Speaker, Sir, this process is so elaborate, and respects and recognizes the important role of the county assembly and the Senate. In subsequent discussions when we are talking about other issues like transfer of functions from one level of government to the other, we want the process to mirror what is there in the Urban Areas and Cities Act. Mr. Speaker, Sir, when you referred this matter to the Standing Committee on Devolution and Intergovernmental Relations, the Committee set out its work schedule to include the following considerations of the ad-hoc committee Report recommending the conferment of city status to Nakuru Municipality. The Committee met with the county government, which is the executive and the Nakuru Municipality Board. The Committee undertook a study visit to Nakuru County to assess the state of preparedness of the Nakuru Municipality on the proposed conferment to city status. When the Committee visited Nakuru, they visited the fire station, recreational and bus parks, the Nakuru Provincial General Hospital Level Five, the dumpsite, the coal"
}