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{
    "id": 1152559,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/1152559/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 102,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "Sen. Halake",
    "speaker_title": "",
    "speaker": {
        "id": 13184,
        "legal_name": "Abshiro Soka Halake",
        "slug": "abshiro-soka-halake"
    },
    "content": "Mr. Speaker, Sir. I rise to support the Public Procurement and Asset Disposal Amendment Bill 2021. As I have become accustomed to, whenever I look at Bills emanating from the National Assembly, I look at three things. First, is the prosecution of devolved units. As much as this Bill has a lot of good things, I am worried that we have an opportunity to strengthen devolution through procurement which we are missing. Most of the amendments proposed are good; from the definitions that have been strengthened to ensure that inclusivity has been introduced. When I look at it from my Senate lens, which is Article 96 of the Constitution as the House of Parliament to ensure that we protect county governments, and strengthen devolution. The fact that this is the third Senate since Independence, the Bill falls short in the sense that it is not amending to align the Act with the challenges that our devolved units are facing. The number one thing we see in our devolved units is lack of absorption and delayed implementation of projects. When you look at why these projects have delayed – in my own county, the market that was started in 2013 is still under construction. The Isiolo Airport that was supposed to have guzzled close to Kshs3 billion is still only 1.4 kilometers long and still need a lot of work to be done on it. The Stadium that is supposed to have given our young people an opportunity to involve themselves in sport is still under construction. When you drill down to what is causing all these delayed projects, the number one driver of these inefficiencies, waste of time and resources is the procurement process. The administrative and legal reforms that are much needed to ensure our devolved units get the implementation capacity they need, lies in this Bill. This Bill is a National Assembly Bill and has not looked at some of the key bottlenecks in our devolved units. I do not know if this House would be kind to make The electronic version of the Senate Hansard Report is for information purposesonly. A certified version of this Report can be obtained from the Hansard Editor, Senate."
}