HTTP 200 OK
Allow: GET, PUT, PATCH, DELETE, HEAD, OPTIONS
Content-Type: application/json
Vary: Accept
{
"id": 110737,
"url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/110737/?format=api",
"text_counter": 427,
"type": "speech",
"speaker_name": "Mr. Nanok",
"speaker_title": "The Assistant Minister for Forestry and Wildlife",
"speaker": {
"id": 57,
"legal_name": "Josephat Koli Nanok",
"slug": "josephat-nanok"
},
"content": "I would also like to draw your attention to Chapter 9 on the Executive. Personally, I would have liked this country to have a Parliamentary System of Government because it has been tested in many countries in the world. We eventually gave in and said that we go for a pure Presidential System because that is what has put us together. However, we must realise that in the 46 years we have had one centre of power, that has been our problem. Since we are now saying that we continue with this one centre of power, we have to strengthen the institutions that check and balance this power so that ten years down the line, we do not come back and cry that we made the wrong decisions for Kenyans and for the future generations. I hope this House will strengthen the power of the National Assembly, the Senate and the devolved units. All these will be a counter balance to the very strong Executive we have created. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, I would also like to draw attention to Chapter 11, on devolved governments. I ask myself: Why do most of us all the time keep referring to the good case examples of how India, Thailand, Singapore, South Korea and China have progressed? These countries have progressed, not just because of the economic structures that they have had. They have progressed because of their political structures, which have supported their countriesâ pillars of the economy. So, devolution is very critical to Kenya, if we really have to move from the third line to the second line and, eventually, to the first one. The countries we refer to have devolved units up to the village level. That is why they are able to deliver, particularly on the priorities. A road linking Kitale and Lodwar would be a priority for a provincial government up there. However, when the planning for the construction of that road is lumped together with that of the rest of the national priorities, it ceases to be a priority. That is the best way of doing things. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, I was recently in China, and I applauded their structures. States are competing to build roads and schools and to take children to school and do scientific research. They managed to achieve all these because they have devolved a lot of their planning and works down to the ground. It is important that, as a country, we reconsider a proper design of devolution. For the last two weeks, we have been talking about devolution, switching from one system to another. We have been talking about a three-tier system and a two-tier system. We seem to be confused. We do not seem to know what we want. We seem not to know whether we want to create wealth for our people. This is the time for us to come up with the best way forward. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, there is nowhere in the world that one can tell me that a two-tier system of government has been tested and seen to perform, but I know that a three-tier system of government has performed. I equate a two-tier system of government to a man climbing a very tall tree and resting in the middle before climbing up to the top. Then, instead of deciding to climb down gently, he decides to jump down. What happens to that man when he jumps down that tree? He will break his legs and his hands. He will injure himself or even die. That is basically what we are doing for those who have proposed a two-tier system of government. There is no way you can move from the top, down straight to so many units at the grassroots. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, if we do that, we will overload the grassroots with so much power and resources that they will not be able to perform. If the units at the grassroots fail to perform, all those powers and resources will get back to the top, and then we will be back to the drawing board. So, I can only appeal to my colleagues that we look back to inception. In this country, we have structures that have been tested. The Provincial Administration has been with us for 46 years. We have had districts, some of which we are consolidating into counties. We have had provinces, which have been the units of co-ordinating a small number of districts, so that they free the national level to deal with critical issues that can move the country forward. If we are not in agreement with what is being called âregional governmentâ or â majimbo â â many people are equating this as majimbo, so that people can be removed from one area to another â let us maintain the eight provincial governments, so that they can help co-ordinate the counties that we have agreed to establish. That way, the Provincial Commissioner, who is currently there, can be clerk in that provincial government and can represent the national government in that provincial government. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, that is the best way we can go. Eventually, after ten or 20 years, if we see that this system is not working, this House has the responsibility to review that system so as to make sure that we have a better system that can serve us better. I will also refer to Schedule One, on counties, and make one statement. Although I was of the opinion that we needed much more than 47 counties, and even Turkana to be split into two because it is too large, some of the amendments that have been brought here have even divided the capital city into four units. I cannot imagine how a capital city can have four different units with four different taxation systems and yet we call it our capital city. I think there is a mistake in these amendments. If those who have drawn these amendments do not re-amend the amendments then I stand to support the 47 counties so that we can move forward. With those many remarks, I beg to support any amendments that can make this document a better document for all Kenyans and which we can be proud of."
}