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{
    "id": 1494966,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/1494966/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 92,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "Sen. Orwoba",
    "speaker_title": "",
    "speaker": null,
    "content": "Thank you, Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir. First, I congratulate you for being the sponsor of this Bill, because it is also in line with the spirit of the Kenya Kwanza Government. Do you remember in our manifesto to deliver to the people, we were pushing for financial independence of institutions like the National Police Service (NPS) and the Judiciary? In the same spirit, when I read through this Bill, I can see that we are also pushing for the financial independence of the county assemblies, which is the independence of devolved functions. I do not want to belabor the point that you have MCAs who are supposed to oversight the county government, but the county government is running their payroll. So, there is always a fear of being victimized and being at the beck and call of the county government. That is the first win for the MCAs that they can at least do their jobs knowing that they still have a salary and are not going to be punished for playing their oversight role. That way, they are going to make sure that they keep the county governments accountable for the funds that they have. It is in that same spirit that the Kenya Kwanza Government was talking about separation of powers of these institutions in the first month we took office. What we are legislating is very important. I remember there was a time we had a Chief Justice who had to beg for finances that were being controlled at the Executive in order for the judicial services to be independent. That is the exact situation with MCAs. They have to beg governors and County Executive Committee Members (CECMs) for their salaries and allowances, and at the same time, they are required to tell the executive that they are misusing funds. It cannot work. You cannot have that independence when someone is holding you hostage with that financial card they have. Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir, the Judiciary Fund Act was passed in 2016, but it took so long to operationalise. It is the President, His Excellency Dr. William Samoei Ruto, who ensured that that the Judiciary had financial independence to support the operational autonomy that they needed to have. In the same spirit, this Bill is suggesting that it is not fair for the MCAs to be held hostage by the governors. I want to speak about the Ward Fund as I contribute to this County Public Finance Laws (Amendment) Bill (Senate Bills No.39 of 2023). We always assume that it is only the National Assembly that requires the National Government-Constituencies Development Fund (NG-CDF) or the Senate that requires an oversight fund. However, the MCAs are at the grassroots and are the level of leadership that deals directly with the people. In order for us to test that devolution is working, we have to start from MCAs. In the same spirit, I hope that somebody from this House will come up with an amendment to ensure that we get the Ward Fund for the MCAs approved. It is one of the The electronic version of the Senate Hansard Report is for information purposesonly. A certified version of this Report can be obtained from the Director, Hansard and AudioServices, Senate."
}