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{
    "id": 1495014,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/1495014/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 140,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "Sen. Onyonka",
    "speaker_title": "",
    "speaker": {
        "id": 13592,
        "legal_name": "Onyonka Richard Momoima",
        "slug": "onyonka-richard-momoima"
    },
    "content": "how he is doing a wonderful job and yet you find there are no medicines, no running water and roads are being done poorly. Another matter that I want us to discuss as soon as possible is that some of our governors, like my governor, have brought in Chinese people who are cutting trees in the whole of Kisii County. The assembly has not sat to decide whether they would have authorised such an activity to take place. As I speak, the Department of Environment has not told us what their forest cover is. You remember the President pronounced himself that we are no longer exporters of raw materials. The Chinese have come; they are cutting the trees and putting them into boxes where Sen. (Dr.) Khalwale cuts the trees into small pieces put them into something that looks like containers and takes them to China, so that they can be put into some other process of value addition. They are shipped to Europe and America as if it is African wood that has left the African continent. Soon, we will start mitigating and discussing how Kisii County has become a desert field and how the trees have been cut. I can tell you that the information I have is that these Chinese individuals who are doing this are from Molo. They ran down to Bomet, Kericho, and Kisii counties. I am told they are moving to Homa Bay, Trans Nzoia, and Uasin Gishu counties. You can imagine what such things mean to our country. I hope that this House will be engaged so that we can begin to look at the issues affecting Kenyans. I persuade my colleagues in this House that we make sure we give the MCAs the responsibility of having ward funds, which are directly going to be released to their wards. The money does not need the governor's interruption for the funds to be released. So long as the County Integrated Development Plan (CIDP) has passed and the money is in the Consolidated Fund. Electronically, the sub-county accounts, the sub-county procurement officer and the sub-county county government workers can then be now happy that at least funds are coming to the local level where these funds need to be. I believe that this House has carried itself with the dignity it requires to the level where Kenyans are willing to give us the support to make sure that we keep changing the law effectively. We close out the loopholes that, for example, have made the Public Finance Management (PFM) Act nearly obsolete. Remember, we rely on the Integrated Financial Management System (IFMIS) as our financial platform. There are also challenges with that. We are experiencing a shortfall in exchequer releases from the National Treasury. We need to sort out that issue. If the funds are not released from the National Treasury, we should ask what we should do about it. With those few remarks, I thank you and support this Bill. I think it will cure what many of us have been asking for."
}