Entry Instance

HTTP 200 OK
Allow: GET, PUT, PATCH, DELETE, HEAD, OPTIONS
Content-Type: application/json
Vary: Accept

{
    "id": 1386020,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/1386020/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 278,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "Makueni, WDM",
    "speaker_title": "Hon. Suzanne Kiamba",
    "speaker": null,
    "content": "With the changing context where counties and the national Government have clear outlined roles in facilitating development in this area, I find it difficult to explain the specific roles of some RDAs. Some are poorly resourced, and their only budget is for salaries. I am often left wondering: Are we employing people for them just to get salaries? Do those authorities not have clear mandates of what they should do? Key authorities like Tana and Athi River Development Authority (TARDA) have a big mandate, especially because they operate in most marginal areas. However, most of them do not have budgets except for recurrent expenditure. Is there any need to have authorities that have outgrown their usefulness? Some of those authorities need to be closed down if we cannot fund them. When we have governance and management structures, it should not be for salaries only, but also aimed at meeting a purpose that would drive this country to a higher level. However, when we have authorities that have been reduced to bodies that are meant to give salaries and for people to have sitting allowances, as a country, we are missing the point. Nevertheless, I have heard an argument that those RDAs, sometimes, lack expertise because people want them to have people from their own areas. While we appreciate that the board members in those RDAs are from local areas, we would be very retrogressive if, as Kenyans, we would start looking at ourselves in a localised and village-like way. No wonder our politics are also going in that direction. Nowadays, you listen to arguments, which, in most cases, would result in tribal and village arguments, which is demeaning for a National Assembly that is supposed to drive the country to the next level. Those bodies need to have representatives from the local area to give some context. However, we need the expertise to drive those bodies to a higher level and enable us to achieve the set objectives. While I thank the Member of Parliament for bringing this Bill, it still needs quite a number of amendments. I do not see the meaning of such bodies taking away the work of the county governments. Why should we give county governments less money because we are trying to divide the money to give to authorities? We are bringing co-wife business to developing Kenya. That because you have two wives, you have to give each wife Ksh20,000 without looking at the purpose of the marriage. If those were bodies aimed at transforming Kenya, we should look at their capacity to transform Kenya."
}