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{
    "id": 1551126,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/1551126/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 448,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "Ugenya, MDG",
    "speaker_title": "Hon. David Ochieng’",
    "speaker": {
        "id": 2955,
        "legal_name": "David Ouma Ochieng'",
        "slug": "david-ouma-ochieng"
    },
    "content": "The first sin in this case was when the High Court in 2013 adjudicated what the National Assembly and the Senate would each handle. It was wrong and I am happy that the Supreme Court has now set the record straight. Good practice, neatness and cordiality require that the two Houses should never have to sue each other. They should never have to take each other to court because we are adults. These are the highest law-making bodies in the country. We form the most powerful arm of the Government because we can impeach a president. We impeached a deputy president just the other day. We cannot demonstrate bad manners by suing each other in court. I agree with what the Supreme Court decided. I also believe that there was a misunderstanding when we started implementing devolution. Some people gave themselves the job of ‘protecting devolution’ or ‘protecting counties.’ If you look at how much money the counties spend on legal fees, how much money the Council of Governors spends on legal fees, and how much money Parliament has spent on legal fees, you realise that there is so much smoke and no heat. That causes confusion, creating a situation where people think that we are fighting and yet there is nothing to fight about. As we move forward, I want to challenge the Senate that 13 years since the implementation of devolution, there is no county which has running water in every homestead. There is no county where you will find uniform service in every dispensary. There is none. There is no county where agriculture is being run well. We have allowed the county governments to replicate the structures of the national Government. They have cabinet secretaries, principal secretaries and directors. They then come crying to us about how they have no money to spend. Why would the county governments have structures similar to those of the national Government? There is so much that the Senate could make laws on. I hear the Senate talk about our military and foreign relations, yet there is a lot that does not work in the counties. As Hon. Junet has just said, the Senate has so much power, but they do not use it, yet they want to amass more. It is not their province. I am happy with what has been said this afternoon. Devolution is meant to help people make decisions at the grassroot level. I am certain that three-quarters of the 47 governors in Kenya live in Nairobi. You will meet them in Nairobi almost every week, either at the Senate or just loitering around Nairobi."
}