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"id": 1083224,
"url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/1083224/?format=api",
"text_counter": 463,
"type": "speech",
"speaker_name": "Hon. (Ms.) Pamela Ochieng",
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"speaker": null,
"content": "Hon. Temporary Deputy Speaker, in my opinion, on that section of Clause 2, we should agree that the chairperson of the board should not only be a highly qualified person in human resource issues, but somebody who also has experience. There are things that we teach in class, but there are things that managers get to know when they are already at work. The deputy should be highly qualified as well. More so, the secretary of that board, especially as Hon. (Dr.) Chris Wamalwa was trying to put it, although at some stage he was going a bit overboard, that all the members of the board should be serious professionals. The county executive committee (CECs) members and directors should be professionals who are not only professionals, but people who are results-oriented and people who are go-getters to have the development mandate of the county and the services to the people delivered on time. The county service board is the replica of the Public Service Commission of Kenya (PSC) at the county level. This is something that is important. When we are looking for the chairperson of the Public Service Commission of Kenya, we get professionals, people who have had first-hand experience on positions of management, and so are the members of that Board. This is something that we can replicate in the counties without fear or favour. Hon. Temporary Deputy Speaker, it is important to note that the county service boards should not be the only appointing authority that we are talking about, as far as the governor is concerned, but all those other appointive posts. For example, you may find that in a hospital, they are struggling to build a maternity wing and then from the sub-county administrator to the ward, there is a village administrator. That person is then appointed to supervise that kind of work. Those are some of the things that are frustrating our development agenda at the counties. I am just amazed and hope nobody will misunderstand me. The debate going on out there about Members of Parliament (MPs) having degrees or not is a very tricky one. In this very House, we have talked about how in Kenya today, we are churning out so many graduates from the universities and yet, they are all jobless. I do not think it is accurate for us to stand here and say that we cannot get women with degrees in some of our villages. In Migori County, which I represent, if you gave me a chance, two days from today, I can appear with a list of girls who have graduated from universities and are still “tarmacking” because they do not have jobs. I am struggling to get the balance between playing to the gallery, so that we can get votes outside there, and speaking facts as they are in the file. I totally support this amendment Bill and wish it could have even come earlier in 2018 or even 2015 because this is what has killed our counties. When you go to see some of those country roads, you will find somebody just removing the grass and the shrubs, shaking the soil and saying that the road has been made. When the wind comes, the soil is blown away. When the rain comes, there are potholes. Some of our rural counties which are raw in terms of development are in a pathetic situation. As I conclude, at the university where I have a lot of experience, there is a regulation when admitting students. There is the overall academic qualification mark that a child must score. For example, in Kenya, it currently stands at C+. However, as you admit those children to various courses such as medicine, architecture, engineering, education and business, which I represent, there are what we call subject clusters which are some other requirements that they must meet in certain subjects. We should borrow from that. I ask my Committee not to rush this Bill just because it has come from the Senate. We can add to it and make it better so that by the time it leaves our hands, we have a Bill that can make the dreamers of devolution, led by Raila Amolo Odinga, to finally one day rest in peace with their The electronic version of the Official Hansard Report is for information purposesonly. A certified version of this Report can be obtained from the Hansard Editor."
}