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{
    "id": 1381767,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/1381767/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 269,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "Sen. M. Kajwang’",
    "speaker_title": "",
    "speaker": {
        "id": 13162,
        "legal_name": "Moses Otieno Kajwang'",
        "slug": "moses-otieno-kajwang"
    },
    "content": "Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir, I beg to move that the County Boundaries Bill (Senate Bills No.6 of 2023) be read a Second Time. This Bill is not foreign to the Senate and Senators. This is the fourth attempt by Parliament to have a legislative framework that gives effect to Article 188 of the Constitution which talks about alteration of county boundaries. This Bill had previously been brought to this House under the sponsorship of Sen. Mutula Kilonzo Jnr. There were about three attempts. There have been all sorts of arguments against the approach that we had taken in the past. At some point, the National Assembly vetoed it saying that it was a Money Bill; that it was proposing a charge on the consolidated fund. This Bill died due to lack of concurrence between the Speakers of both Houses. However, this is an important legislation. The team that was in Bomas of Kenya, the National Dialogue Committee (NADCO) flagged the issue of county boundaries as one of the key issues around cohesion that needed to be dealt with. I took note that whereas the NADCO made certain legislative proposals for the other pieces that they felt should be enacted, when it came to the County Boundaries Bill, the NADCO proposed that the Bill that is currently before Parliament should be fast tracked. I do hope that this time, this Bill will get bi-partisan and bi-cameral support. The objective of this Bill is to give effect to Article 188 of the Constitution. The territory of Kenya is defined in Article 6 as comprising of the 47 counties that have been listed in the First Schedule of the Constitution. The question has been, why do we have 47 counties and not 13 or fewer like Sen. (Dr.) Khalwale has been reported saying that we need fewer counties? Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir, the team that was drafting the new Constitution retreated in Naivasha. There was a rush to have a Constitution that will be acceptable to all Kenyans. Initially, there was a formation that was in favour of counties along the lines of the existing provinces. There was a middle ground that was considering 13 counties. However, the team that carried the day is the one that convinced the committee meeting in Naivasha that we adopt the 46 districts plus Nairobi City as captured in the Districts and Provinces Act of 1992. If you ask me what the logic was, I believe some of the people who were in Naivasha are here. Sen. Mungatana was in the House around that time. I hope we will benefit from their wisdom so that they can tell us what science there was. Sen. (Dr.) Khalwale was also around and was very much involved in that process. There was no magic. We just said let us take the District and Provinces Act of 1992. The electronic version of the Senate Hansard Report is for information purposes only. A certified version of this Report can be obtained from the Director, Hansard Services, Senate."
}