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{
    "id": 1303689,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/1303689/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 157,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "Sen. Veronica Maina",
    "speaker_title": "",
    "speaker": null,
    "content": "Kenya Kwanza Government has given to the public in Kenya is that this is the one government that will go on record as having offered a digital super highway to the citizens of Kenya. This is because the future is in digital and in the ICT advancement. For us to be able to achieve even the smart cities, we must have this infrastructure in place. So, this is a good starting point from the Senate. By committing this Statement to the relevant Committee gives an opportunity to the Committee to receive an audit of the infrastructure that has been laid out to serve the public. I see this kind of audit and review of infrastructure being offered in the ICT sector to the public being a good thing. It will give an opportunity for smart cities to be established in Kenya and beyond the smart cities for efficient service to be given by the Government. When we talk about efficient service, I am looking at the digitization of public services. One of the ways to completely eliminate corruption from public offices is to ensure that any service that can be given online should be offered to the public online without an interface of the human aspect. That way, some of the issues that Kenyans have been complaining about will be eliminated through the use of technology. Records can be preserved for years without having to deal with the manual records. There are many benefits. The Senator of Nairobi has walked out. It is good he experienced the offering of smart digital services at the City Market in Nairobi. It is unfortunate that traders called saying that the Wi-Fi was not working. I do not know if it was data which was not available. However, as a good leader, he could have offered a solution. If the problem was data, he could have boosted Government effort from the Opposition. Since the infrastructure was offered, he could do the little he could to give data to those traders who voted him into office. I have also seen a Statement by the good Senator of Kakamega County about own-source revenue. If the counties were to take such Statements seriously, we would find them now able to generate their own income. We have had an over concentration by the counties of where they just want to expend money and from other sources, especially from the national Government. This approach should be adjusted using the own-source revenue. We, as Kenyans, would expect that counties be innovative in the way they raise their revenue in order to be able to feed into their budget. Indeed, it should be the pride of any county to generate revenue that caters for its expenditure in so far as is possible. I know for some counties that may be difficult. However, for those counties that are expedient in the manner in which they manage their resources, their own-source revenue should be able to carter for the needs of the expenditure in the county. Mr. Speaker, Sir, generating is not enough. There is need for good management of those resources. We also need officials and public servants who are able to manage resources in a way that is faithful and with a lot of integrity. That then supports the generation of own-source revenue and ensure that what is generated can continue to be injected into the development of that county. So, I rise to support and congratulate the Senators who have brought these Statements. Let me also mention the student who died at Kimathi School. It is something The electronic version of the Senate Hansard Report is for information purposesonly. A certified version of this Report can be obtained from the Director, Hansard and AudioServices, Senate."
}