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{
    "id": 1166131,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/1166131/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 313,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "Sen. M. Kajwang’",
    "speaker_title": "",
    "speaker": {
        "id": 13162,
        "legal_name": "Moses Otieno Kajwang'",
        "slug": "moses-otieno-kajwang"
    },
    "content": "someone having gone through a rigorous process coming from Suba, which is a border Sub-county. The kind of suffering that those of us who come from border sub-counties are subjected to is unheard of. When you tell someone from Kiambu the kind of travails you get through to get an Identification (ID) card, they will think that is a different Kenya. If you come from Kiambu, you can go to Huduma Centre at Telposta and within a few days, you get your ID. However, if you come from Suba, Mfangano Island or Remba Island, you are guilty until you prove your innocence. They consider you to be a Ugandan simply because you come from the border with Uganda or Tanzania and there will be vetting. You will be told to bring all sorts of documentation which people who come from the centre of the country are not to subjected to. We are disenfranchising Kenyans, yet we are saying that universal suffrage is an inalienable principle and concept to the politics of this country. They said no taxation without representation. How many Kenyans are paying taxes and how many Kenyans are voting? There is a big debate. If you recall, Plato said that their democracy is the worst possible form of government because sometimes those who are enlightened are overpowered by those whom he thought did not have the skills or qualities to make decisions. However, we went for universal suffrage. Therefore, every vote should count. The concern that led people to propose that we need to have degrees was an example in our counties where Members of County Assemblies (MCAs) have to oversight a County Executive Committee Member (CECM) with degrees or PhDs in financial matters. So, you have got an MCA elected because he is passionate about representing his people but has to deal with the County Integrated Development Plan (CIDP), the County Fiscal Strategy Plan and the Annual Development Plan (ADP). Many people thought that the skills of a CECM should match those of an MCA but I beg to disagree. A CECM does more of a technocratic bureaucratic job. As I said earlier, meritocracy must be observed in bureaucratic and technocratic positions. CECMs doing that job require degrees but MCAs being representative need basic skills to represent their people. The same thing has been said about Parliament. You will find Cabinet Secretaries coming before Parliament and running rings around MPs. I do not think they would run rings around MPs because of the absence of education in Parliament. In any case, this Parliament has got one of the best technical support structures I have seen elsewhere. Thanks to being a leader of a committee, I have visited a number of Parliaments. What Members would lack in form of degrees, will be more than compensated by the qualities, attributes and technical skills that we have in Parliament. If we use our Clerk’s offices and bodies like the Parliamentary Budget Office (PBO) properly, you will not require to have a PhD in public finance for you to chair the County Public Accounts and Investments Committee (CPAIC). You will only need to have a team of analysts, accountants and systems people to advise you on how to make the right decisions as an MP."
}