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{
    "id": 1195980,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/1195980/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 483,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "Sen. M. Kajwang’",
    "speaker_title": "",
    "speaker": {
        "id": 13162,
        "legal_name": "Moses Otieno Kajwang'",
        "slug": "moses-otieno-kajwang"
    },
    "content": "Mr. Temporary Speaker, Sir, I had already talked of the Additional Allocations Bill, which ideally should have come for First Reading even before we go for this short break. Secondly, when the President addressed Parliament, he expressed goodwill as far as the Senate Monitoring and Evaluation Fund is concerned. However, as a Senator, I do not seem to see any Motion on the part of the Leadership of the House, to actualise that good intention. Mr. Temporary Speaker, Sir, I have been part of this struggle for the longest time that I have been in the Senate. When I joined the Senate, Sen. Kiraitu Murungi, then, came up with a proposal. It was a proposed amendment to the Parliamentary Service Commission (PSC) Act to set up a sub-committee of the PSC that would look into matters of the Senate. That Bill never went far even though it was passed by the Senate. Thereafter, we went into this exercise of developing regulations for a Monitoring and Evaluation Fund. We went to the USA using taxpayers’ money, visited several states and met a number of State legislatures. We saw how the USA Senate and State Senates carry out oversight. We then came up with a model, which was based on that best practice from the USA. We came and crafted regulations. When they went to the National Assembly, our good friend, Sen. Cheptumo, then, being the Chairperson of the Committee on Delegated Legislation, killed those regulations. Mr. Temporary Speaker, Sir, the regulations were so clear. We had even put an amount that was supposed to be the seed capital for that fund. That fund was supposed to be facilitated with Kshs1 billion. The function of the fund was clearly stated. We were not using that money to go and build roads or do development projects. We were going to do social impact assessment and engage experts to evaluate projects in counties. We were going to use that Fund to carry out public participation and establish whether the needs of wananchi in counties were being actualised by the projects of county governments. The Senator was not even going to handle that money. There are those who thought that Senators were looking for money for campaigns. Some of the most ardent opponents of that fund were Members of the National Assembly, who thought that Senators were going to use that money to either kick them out of their constituencies or to become Governors. Mr. Temporary Speaker, Sir, some of those who were loud against the Senate Monitoring and Evaluation Fund, have unfortunately lost their positions and most of the Senators have come back here. I encourage the House Leadership that the regulations had proposed that we set up a special Committee. This special Committee would be the one that receives reports from the 47 counties. As a Senator, once you have engaged the services of an expert and come up with a report on the viability or the social impact of the projects out in the counties, where does that report go to? Do you send it to the County Assembly or bring it to the Senate? When you bring it to the Senate, does it come as a Motion or as a Statement?"
}