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{
    "id": 1166017,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/1166017/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 199,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "Sen. M. Kajwang’",
    "speaker_title": "",
    "speaker": {
        "id": 13162,
        "legal_name": "Moses Otieno Kajwang'",
        "slug": "moses-otieno-kajwang"
    },
    "content": "towards productivity because that is how nations get wealthy by producing goods and services. Sen. Nyamunga is telling us that we now must take an inventory of the resources that reside in our respective counties. It reminds me of a campaign slogan or a manifesto item that I saw in Ghana. In Ghana, there they were talking of one district one factory. They recognised that each district had a unique natural resource. The key to unlocking wealth and productivity in those areas was to ensure that there was some value-addition of the resources that resided there. Mr. Temporary Speaker, Sir, if you look at our counties for example County of Laikipia, with its vast parcel of land, animal population and other may be other natural mineral resource. If the county government of Laikipia was to specialize in one thing and do it well, they would be rich. Similarly, Homa Bay county with its proximity to the lake and the great potential of fisheries should just focus on one thing and do it well. The gross county product of our counties will grow. There are probably two counties in this Republic that have an up to date statistical abstract. I do not know whether it has changed but the last time I checked three months ago it was only Laikipia and Makueni that had up to date statistical abstracts. Up to date meant the year 2020. Many of our counties are still relying on statistical abstracts of 2017 or 2019. What I saw in one of these counties is that a governor knows what the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) is. He knows what the target growth of that GDP should be. Many of our governors have got no idea what the wealth of counties are. Mr. Temporary Speaker, Sir, many Senators here do not know the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) of Nairobi City, Kisumu and Kakamega counties and yet that statistic is out there. The Kenya National Bureau of Statistics (KNBS) does a report and I think their last report was in 2019. If we map our resources, then it will be possible for governors and the leadership in counties to say--- For example, the GDP of Homa Bay County is Kshs115 billion out of a Kshs10 trillion economy. That is just one per cent of Kenya’s economy. The GDP of Nairobi City County could be about Kshs1.4 or Kshs1.5 trillion, which is about 15 per cent of the GDP of this country. Can we have governors who start thinking about how to grow wealth in their respective domains? Can we stop this idea where we think that economic growth and development is the sole preserve of the national Government? That Hon. Ukur Yatani is the one who will tell us how wealthier or poorer we have become. If we identify, catalogue and exploit the resources that are in innate or natural to our respective counties, I believe we will get to a generation where productivity is a conversation. Devolution was ushered not just for political rights. There are those who still argue that devolution was because of mismanagement and that the center had neglected the far-flung areas. That is true. In the morning, I listened to Sen. Farhiya talking about the past, when people used to say they were coming to Kenya and these are people who"
}