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{
    "id": 1445773,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/1445773/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 167,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "Sen. Methu",
    "speaker_title": "",
    "speaker": {
        "id": 13581,
        "legal_name": "Methu John Muhia",
        "slug": "methu-john-muhia"
    },
    "content": "That project was to be undertaken jointly by both county and the national Government. We were invited by the Committee twice. The meeting included Governors and Senators from Nyandarua, Tharaka-Nithi, Lamu, Isiolo and Tana River. During the meeting, there are two things that came out clearly and that is part of the recommendations of the committee. It is fair that I also report to the best of my knowledge, especially for the case of Nyandarua in terms of the overall responsibilities of project management, including supervision, monitoring and payment of contractors. That is a secondary matter, but there was a request by Governors of the mentioned counties when they appeared before the committee. They requested that those projects be transferred to the counties because of two things. First, most of those projects had variations that were over 25 per cent that is acceptable in law. The initial cost of the county headquarters for Nyandarua was supposed to be about Kshs427 million, but after the first certificate was raised, the figure was about Kshs322 million. Thereafter, a new contractor quoted about Kshs450 million. Consequently, the contract sum was almost twice the amount that was initially supposed to build the county headquarters. At this point, we must also speak about standardization. Even though the cost of construction in different places is different, sometimes it becomes alarming why, for example, a county headquarters or governor’s residence in Mandera should cost Kshs252 million, while a governor’s residence in Kericho costs Kshs60 million. A governor is just a governor. The kind of facilities that, for example, the Governor of Kilifi, Mombasa of Nairobi requires are the same that the Governor of Isiolo needs. There is a recommendation that I do not support; that the intergovernmental arrangements framework for the implementation of the projects should be revised to ensure expeditious completion of the projects. This idea first came to the Senate in 2017, but we are now seven years into the implementation of the projects. Only 55 per cent of the project has been done. It means people are not getting as much utilities as they should from the county headquarters. I like to conceptualize it this way. In the case of Nyandarua, the County Assembly of Nyandarua was conceived after the county headquarters. The County Assembly is now complete and has been in use for the past three years or so. The County Assembly Office Block was conceptualized after the county headquarters. The County Assembly Office Block, which is a big building in Ol Kalou, is complete but the county headquarters is still not complete. The Land Registry in Ol Kalou was launched way after the county headquarters but as it is now, the Land Registry in Ol Kalou is complete but the county headquarters is not. I am happy to inform you that we now have a High Court in Ol Kalou with a magistrate. The Judiciary Building was started way after the county headquarters, but the building is complete and in use, but the county headquarters is yet to be completed. Completion of these county headquarters must be expeditious. Now that these projects have been handed over to the county governments, especially in the case of Nyandarua--- I saw the Governor with the Principal Secretary for the National Treasury and the team midwifing the handover from the national Government to the county government. That matter should now be a thing of the past. 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 and Audio Services,Senate."
}