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{
    "id": 1224016,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/1224016/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 165,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "Sen. M. Kajwang’",
    "speaker_title": "",
    "speaker": {
        "id": 13162,
        "legal_name": "Moses Otieno Kajwang'",
        "slug": "moses-otieno-kajwang"
    },
    "content": "Mr. Speaker, Sir, this is a heavy and important Statement request. I encourage the Chair of the Committee on Devolution and Intergovernmental Relations to not just deal with it as a Statement, but consider it as ripe for an inquiry on its own. I have had the privilege of chairing the Committee on Devolution and Intergovernmental Relations in the previous session. There is need for this House to do a legislative impact assessment on some of the laws that govern devolution. They include the Urban Areas and Cities Act, the County Governments Act and the Public Finance Management Act. Many of these statutes were formulated at a time when we still did not understand how devolution was working. For example, the County Governments Act and even the Urban Areas and Cities Act and 10 years down the line, you will realise that some counties have done experiments and others are still not yielding to the principle of subsidiarity that is in the Constitution. Mr. Speaker, Sir, there are some governors that have created towns and municipalities, but it is only on paper. You only have a charter conferring a town or some centre to a town or municipal status, yet there are no services to correspond to that. The Senator has asked for a linkage between the plans and audited reports. The Urban Areas and Cities Act, the County Governments Act and the PFM Act require county assemblies to consider audited reports of municipalities. The question is; should those audited reports come to the Senate? If so, will we have the capacity to process reports for all municipalities and towns? Probably not. So, there are many gaps in those pieces of legislation. I hope that this Statement request will not be responded to in the usual manner where the Cabinet Secretary (CS) is called and the Senator who sought for the Statement is invited, then that is the end. I encourage the able Chair of the Committee on Devolution and Intergovernmental Relations that this is the opportunity we have for us to review the Urban Areas and Cities Act and confirm that it is fit for purpose to support devolution for the next 20 years. Mr. Speaker, Sir, when this subject is being discussed, I urge the Chair of the Committee on Devolution and Intergovernmental Relations to invite me as Chair"
}