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{
    "id": 1119658,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/1119658/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 335,
    "type": "other",
    "speaker_name": "",
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    "speaker": null,
    "content": "Article 187 is clear that the elected governor of a county still retains constitutional responsibility for the transferred functions. It is for interpretation whether the acting Governor of Nairobi City County is really taking responsibility for the transferred functions. It seems as if the acting Governor is now taking instructions from the entity that the functions were transferred to. Mr. Temporary Speaker, Sir, this amendment seeks to provide clarity in transfer of functions from the national Government to county governments, but also considers the reverse from county governments to the national Government. We have seen transfer of functions from county government to the national Government in the case of Nairobi City County. I recall also Taita /Taveta had put a request to transfer the roads function from the county government to the national Government. On the other hand, there could be cases where the national Government wishes to transfer its functions to county governments. Perhaps that has not been explored. In areas such as education infrastructure, there are those who are of the view that instead of the national Government channeling funds through the National Government Constituencies Development Fund (NG-CDF), it probably would go to the county governments as a conditional grant. This is because governors are people on the ground and they could take that responsibility of developing education infrastructure if there was an intergovernmental agreement. Today we will be talking of NMS taking over the functions of Nairobi City County, but there could be cases where county governments are taking over functions of the national Government. This amendment seeks to provide for a role of the county assemblies. The existing Act says county assemblies shall be notified. The amendment makes clear the role of county assemblies in the transfer process. It says that once an intergovernmental agreement has been drafted, it shall be submitted to the county assembly. The county assembly shall carry out public participation and it shall vote on the matter. It goes further and provides for the role of the Senate. Once the county assembly has approved the matter, that approval is transmitted to the Senate which also takes a number of days to consider it. Mr. Temporary Speaker, Sir, you recall the process of conferment of city status has got similar processes where the county assembly will take a resolution which will be brought to the Senate. Interestingly, there was no timeliness to conferment of city status. That is why in this case, we have made it clear that the Senate should take 30 days to consider the transfer of functions so that it is not an indefinite matter. Mr. Temporary Speaker, Sir, the amendment has also provided that where the national Government wishes to transfer a function to county governments, the National Assembly shall consider the matter. Once it has, the Senate shall also consider it. The amendment makes it mandatory that public participation shall be undertaken at all levels by the county assembly and by the two Houses of Parliament when they are considering a case for transfer of functions."
}