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{
"id": 1381770,
"url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/1381770/?format=api",
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"type": "speech",
"speaker_name": "Sen. M. Kajwang’",
"speaker_title": "",
"speaker": {
"id": 13162,
"legal_name": "Moses Otieno Kajwang'",
"slug": "moses-otieno-kajwang"
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"content": "If the Senate agrees with you, it forwards the request to the National Assembly. If the National Assembly agrees with the Senate, then the President establishes a commission within 90 days. If there was to be a decision on alteration, it must be supported by two-thirds of Members of both Houses. Two-thirds of Members of both Houses is a threshold in the Constitution. However, the question would remain, even with two-thirds of Members proposing the alteration of county boundaries, should it go to a referendum. We will be relying on bright lights like Sen. Cherarkey to put together Article 188 and Article 255 of the Constitution and advise whether we should amend this legislation further to make it mandatory for a referendum. Otherwise, Article 188 ends with approval by two-thirds and then the boundaries are altered. There is the other question of creating new counties. How do you create new counties? This Bill does not address that subject because, for you to create new counties, you must go into a referendum to alter Article 16 which defines Kenya as comprising the 47 counties in the First Schedule. For you to amend the First Schedule, you must go into a referendum. So, this Bill only deals with boundary disputes and cases where there is a need to alter the boundaries of existing counties. The challenge with the Districts and Provinces Act, which this Bill seeks to repeal, is that the boundaries are described in a very narrative form in many cases. There are very few counties where the boundaries are expressed in forms of Global Positioning System (GPS) coordinates. This Bill makes it mandatory for the Cabinet Secretary to maintain an electronic register using the latest advanced technologies to ensure that county boundaries are mapped and captured using Geographic Information System (GIS) or GPS; the relevant technology. It makes it an offense for anyone to alter those records. That is captured in Clause 3 of the Bill. The Schedule that we have attached to this Bill has been captured as is from the Districts and Provinces Act. Many colleagues here have expressed their concern that, that Schedule, sometimes the way it has described those boundaries, is a bit tricky. Unfortunately, we do not have any other point of preference because when people went to Naivasha, they referred to the Districts and Provinces Act, and that then became part of the Supreme Law. Therefore, if you go back and try to rewrite the Districts and Provinces Act, you will end up in a lot of problems because no Kenyan will accept that you move the existing boundaries, even by a single inch. The alteration of boundaries and even issues of mediation must be subjected to serious public engagement. Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir, even as I move, I am still asking myself, that if you have got a petition from county X, for example, Vihiga County, has moved Parliament to alter the boundary. How do you capture the voice of the people of Kisumu; assuming the boundary would be moving and carving Maseno to be part of the Vihiga County? Just as an example. I know Sen. Osotsi is firmly convinced that Maseno is part of Vihiga County, and we are entitled to our own opinions, but not to our facts. The facts might look a bit different. However, if the people of Vihiga County initiate that Motion and they can convince Parliament that, that boundary should be altered, how do you capture 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."
}