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"id": 184439,
"url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/184439/?format=api",
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"type": "speech",
"speaker_name": "Mr. Konchella",
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"speaker": {
"id": 322,
"legal_name": "Gideon Sitelu Konchella",
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"content": "Ha! Ha! Finally! Thank you, Madam Temporary Deputy Speaker. I tried to 2686 PARLIAMENTARY DEBATES October 14, 2008 catch the eyes of the Speaker today and, fortunately, you are there. I thank you because your eyesight is super. Madam Temporary Deputy Speaker, I also wish to express what Mr. Mungatana has said because that is the problem of this country today. It is a problem that we must address as Parliament. It is a problem that we need to sort out as a nation, if we have to develop. We are creating poverty for our people. It is a deliberate poverty created by the people because of corruption. One of the biggest problem that we have in Kenya today is corruption. Corruption has been enhanced at the local level where people are very vulnerable and not able to defend themselves. They cannot speak for their rights. It is all over the country. One of the critical issues that is bothering me in my own district is a council that is not functioning. Since the Minister appointed a clerk and the new councillors were sworn in, the council has never functioned. They are in court because somebody is able to corrupt the court. He is also able to corrupt the Local Government officers. I have a lot of respect for the Minister and his Permanent Secretary, because they are a new team. But I must say what I am saying. I am saying that without including them because they are a new team. Let us do something for the people of Kenya. Let us stop corruption if we want to develop as a nation. Let us be fair to everybody. Let everybody also develop. If you look at the allocation for the Nairobi City Council here--- Of course, Trans Mara County Council is not on the map here--- When you look at the district allocation, it means that there is a district called Trans Mara which is not on the map of the Local Government authorities. That is why we are saying that fairness has to be practised to everybody. Now, Nairobi City Council is being allocated close to Kshs2 billion. The Ministry of Nairobi Metropolitan Development whose Vote we passed the other day will do the same thing. Even within the CDF kitty, the people of Nairobi are still receiving some money. Yes, we all live here but, surely, what about the poverty that we are creating by denying resources to everybody else other than the people of Nairobi? For instance, if you look at Kilgoris, a town that has been allocated some money here, it has no management of solid waste. We want to have a sewer because the population is now polluting all the rivers that the people and cattle drink. We have a big problem of storm water and it is destroying property. We have no bus park in the town. There is no market for people to sell their goods and services to improve their welfare. So, we want the Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Local Government to think about the people of Kenya as a whole. Indeed, if I look at the whole allocation, it is like it has shifted to Western Province. Last time, it was Central Province! Tomorrow, when I am the Minister for Local Government, myself, I will take everything to Kilgoris and Kajiado. That is the order of the day. I think enough is enough because the people of Kenya should not be treated that way. We must treat everybody equally. Today, the people of Yatta and Turkana are dying. Yet, we have Ministers here who cannot introduce feeding programmes for those people. A very weak person cannot cook for himself. They have destroyed the environment by cutting all the trees. Even if you give them raw maize, what are they going to cook with, when everything has been destroyed? Why can we not start feeding centres for those people until the rain comes. I want the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister and Ministry of Local Government to do two things for the people of Trans Mara. One, an audit team should be sent from the Ministry headquarters. That team should be comprised of officers who care about Kenya, and not officers who will do the audit in Nairobi and present the papers because they have been corrupted even before they start the job. That is what is happening. You try to do an audit and somebody's pocket will be stuffed with stolen money before the audit. I want a proper audit to be done on the accounts of Masai Mara. That is because for the last ten years, people have been collecting money. They October 14, 2008 PARLIAMENTARY DEBATES 2687 have been bribing everybody! There is nothing to develop and support the poor in my constituency. Madam Temporary Deputy Speaker, God has endowed us with resources to support and educate our children now and in the future. But we are not able to do that because of corruption. I urge the Minister to look at me because I am very serious about that. \"Please, carry out an audit of Trans Mara County Council.\" The courts should not be used by others to delay justice so that, after six months, you dissolve the council. That is where they are going to. They are now bribing your officers so that you are forced by law to dissolve the council in the next one month. It is all deliberate so that they are able to control the money. We have a conservancy which is supposed to be managing the Mara Game Reserve. It is being run by people who are corrupt. Indeed, one of the directors is in court because of corruption elsewhere in another institution of the Government. They are protecting their interest so that they are able to cause havoc and steal more resources. In fact, I believe and I know that the big cats are being transported away from the Trans Mara Game Reserve. They are being taken to conservancies of white people. The Office of the Deputy Prime Minister and Ministry of Local Government should protect the people of Trans Mara. We want to have a Government officer who would be in-charge of the Trans Mara Game Reserve. That is because it is being run by a bunch of white people who have decided to use the Trans Mara Conservancy to steal the big cats out of the Mara. So, that is my concern. We are not receiving half of the money. It is still going into the pockets of those people. So, I request the Minister to dissolve the Mara Conservancy after the audit, so that we can start afresh. That way, the people of Trans Mara will have a future like the other people of Kenya. Madam Temporary Deputy Speaker, we have a lot of land within our municipalities, which is in the hands of individuals. Government institutions are not able to set up offices because the land is in the hands of the people. The Government should ensure that land that has not been developed is repossessed by the councils so that institutions that support the public can make use of it. I have approached the Ministry of Housing to build houses for officers in my district, but there is no land. All the land has been allocated by council officers to their friends. They hold this land, but they do not use it. They simply sell it to other people. Could we ensure that land that is held in trust is, first and foremost, given to public institutions for public good. From there, they can progress their commercial interests as they wish. Madam Temporary Deputy Speaker, we have been talking about the remuneration of councillors. I know that they have been complaining, now and again, of poor remuneration. The President said that they must collect money for them to justify their wages or earnings. That is also my belief. Councillors should not be given public resources and yet they steal whatever they collect themselves. Let them collect money and account for it. Whoever will raise a lot of revenue will be justified to increase his or her salaries or wages because they will have shown that they are efficient. The issue of saying that we should give councillors such and such an amount of money should not arise. Of course, where they have no resources, there is every reason for them to be supported by the Exchequer or the Ministry. However, where resources are being stolen like is the case in Trans Mara District--- Unless councillors become efficient, they are not justified to demand an increase in their remuneration. That is the only way they will be accountable. They should earn from their sweat. The other issue is education. We have a lot of problems because most of the councillors have not even initiated programmes of teaching their people IT and new management styles. I would like the Minister to come up with a programme so that the officers in the Ministry of Local Government are educated in IT and new management styles. They should understand that the world is moving very fast and unless they are able to manage resources well, we will never develop our country. Madam Temporary Deputy Speaker, with those few remarks, I beg to support. 2688 PARLIAMENTARY DEBATES October 14, 2008"
}