HTTP 200 OK
Allow: GET, PUT, PATCH, DELETE, HEAD, OPTIONS
Content-Type: application/json
Vary: Accept
{
"id": 1520119,
"url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/1520119/?format=api",
"text_counter": 110,
"type": "speech",
"speaker_name": "Elda, JP",
"speaker_title": "Hon Adan Keynan",
"speaker": null,
"content": "think, the fourth or fifth arm of the government. Anything we do, someone must go to court. A time will come when the court will reason and say that this does not fall in their jurisdiction. This is the third time I am seeing this and it is not working. Dear colleagues, it is not working! Do not worry about the 34 counties. It is not working. It is not anywhere, and the money is not being felt. The money is not going to the ground. The money has become part of the devolved functions. Can we put our differences aside, reclaim our role, direct this money where it is supposed to be, and have one project per constituency? If, for example, Eldas was supposed to get Ksh200 million, such an amount can have one critical infrastructure like a hospital, dam, water facility or an educational institution, but when you have Ksh2 million for water trucking, Ksh3 million for grading, another Ksh2 million for something else, there is no impact. The right way to approach this, and I want to ask the Mover, is that during the Second Reading, let us go back, look at it critically and consult as many legal minds as possible, so that we can seal all the loopholes. Recently, we were invited to a meeting and interestingly, that meeting was supposed to have been presided over by His Excellency the President. Fortunately, he did not come. Had he come, we would have raised so many questions at the Kenyatta International Convention Centre (KICC). Out of over 109 Members who were invited, only four of us attended. That tells you the level of disinterest. We need to deal with this. The resources are there, yet we complain of inadequacy. Can we utilise the resources that we have, so that in the next six years, regions that have been neglected, stereotyped, and completely left out in the national development agenda, benefit? Hon. Deputy Speaker, this morning, I participated in a programme that has been launched by His Excellency the President, called Solar Mini-Grids. Today, I can say I am the father of Parliament. I joined Parliament as one of the young legislators and I was looking forward to two things. One of them was to see a black substance; ‘black substance’ in the definition of those school-going children in northern Kenya, found in down Kenya. That black substance is tarmac which has now gone to our region, courtesy of devolution. The other bit, during my lifetime as a Member of Parliament, is the extension of the national grid to northern Kenya, from Nairobi and other parts that had been advantaged. It is still stuck in Garissa. We are still struggling. One of the things that the Government has done, through the Ministry of Energy and Petroleum, is affirmative action. It is working. Why is this one not working? Why is this one convoluted? Why is this one in the wrong ecosystem? Why is nobody appreciating that this was meant to address marginalisation? Hon. Deputy Speaker, I know you are a seasoned lawyer. If you go back to the notes of the framers of the current Constitution, some of them were great minds. Although I do not agree with a number of sections of the current Constitution, if you go back to their notes, some parts are critical and reformist. They had in mind a Kenyan society where everybody gets a share of the national cake. Recently, I considered myself a second-class citizen. I considered myself a Member of Parliament that represented second-class citizens within the confines of our boundaries. Today, courtesy of the current Constitution and actions of the current Government, that tag is gone. Our role must be seamless. Our role must be in tandem with the national Government policy. Our role should be out of lamentations. I am the chair and patron of the Pastoralists Parliamentary Group (PPG)and I know a majority of our Members come under this organisation. In addition to the Mover, can we own this Bill and ensure it addresses all the issues once and for all, so that we do not blame anybody else, but ourselves? I thank the Mover for the timely Bill. I promise you that all of us will be part and parcel of its next stages. The electronic version of the Official Hansard Report is for information purposesonly. A certified version of this Report can be obtained from the Hansard Editor."
}