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{
    "id": 1381769,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/1381769/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 271,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "Sen. M. Kajwang’",
    "speaker_title": "",
    "speaker": {
        "id": 13162,
        "legal_name": "Moses Otieno Kajwang'",
        "slug": "moses-otieno-kajwang"
    },
    "content": "How do you resolve these disputes across boundaries? We have tried. When I chaired the Committee on Devolution and Intergovernmental Relations, the matter of Vihiga and Kisumu counties came before us. Unfortunately, we responded to the petitioners that the Senate shall enact legislation to give effect to Article 188. Senate sounded fairly helpless because we were not giving the petitioners a solution. We were giving them a promise. The only other alternative would have been for them to go to court. The courts would still bring them back to the Senate because they cannot enact laws. This Bill, in attempting to provide a framework for dealing with boundary disputes, establishes the County Boundaries Mediation Committee as the first instance for dealing with boundary disputes. The County Boundaries Mediation Committee is an adhoc Committee. It is not going to be a permanent thing. It acts upon resolutions of the Senate. So, it has to be moved by the Senate. It is appointed by the President and it comprises of officers of the national Government and those from county governments. During public participation, I saw there was need to include the National Cohesion and Integration Commission (NCIC) as part of the County Boundaries Mediation Committee. That is an amendment I find reasonable. We probably need to have the NCIC being part of this. Other members are from the NLC, a representative from surveyors, one from the Council of Governors (CoG) and I believe we can include the NCIC. Clause 5 of this Bill is clear on how our request to Senate should be shaped and submitted for the establishment of a County Boundaries Mediation Committee. That Committee can have various proposals. It can propose that the boundaries be altered. If the County Boundaries Mediation Committee proposes that the boundaries be altered, then we go to Article 188 of the Constitution. It talks of reasons that could lead to alteration of county boundaries. An interesting reading of Article 188 is that it sounds like once those conditions have been fulfilled, a commission has been established by the President and it reports that a boundary should be altered, then that alteration takes effect. I have been looking at Article 188 and comparing with Article 255 that says that anything that affects the structure of devolved Governments is subject to a referendum. Article 188 sounds very final. Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir, these are some of the areas that we need to look into. This is because Article 188 of the Constitution, from a plain reading, means that you can alter county boundaries without necessarily going into a referendum, and yet, it alters the structure of devolved governments. This Bill has proposed a very high threshold. For you to propose the alteration of the boundary of a county, you must be supported by at least 50 percent of registered voters in that county. Once you have satisfied that threshold, there will be a commission established by the President that will still have to be subjected to the Senate. Once you get 15 per cent of registered voters, you submit it to the Senate. The Senate will establish a special committee. 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."
}