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"id": 184915,
"url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/184915/?format=api",
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"speaker_name": "Mr. Lesrima",
"speaker_title": "The Assistant Minister, Ministry of State for Provincial Administration and Internal Security",
"speaker": {
"id": 178,
"legal_name": "Simon Saimanga Lesirma",
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"content": " Thank you, Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir. I apologise for not being here when the debate on this Motion was resuming after the recess. Let me take this opportunity to congratulate Mr. Wamalwa for introducing this very important Motion. Let me also say that I have read the comments of Members of Parliament in the HANSARD and so I am not taking this matter lightly. This is a very important Motion and I think Mr. Wamalwa, in his presentation, had literally covered everything that the village elders do and what we require to do. In fact, the only major concern that the Government would have with this Motion is again on the question of financial implications. I am very pleased to note that hon. Wamalwa is not even insisting on those people being on the payroll or given an allowance. So, I do appreciate his recognition of the budgetary implications. When you consider that we have 7,000 sub-locations in Kenya today, and note that there are five villages in every location--- Let us assume, for the sake of argument, that there are 2548 PARLIAMENTARY DEBATES October 8, 2008 50,000 village elders. If we were to pay each a small allowance of Kshs2,000, that would translate into a budget of Kshs1.2 billion per annum. I think we could discuss, at the beginning, the remuneration for those people. It is also important to consider the points that have been raised by Prof. Kamar; that we require some kind of standardization. It seems to me that the institution of village elders is stronger in some parts of Kenya, particularly in Western Kenya and Nyanza, than in other areas. We could look for a way of institutionalizing, formalizing and streamlining the arrangement. In some areas, those village elders are appointed by assistant chiefs in consultation with the community. In other places, in fact, they are even elected. So, that is one other area that we need to look at. Those people play a crucial link between the Government and communities. They are also good intelligence gatherers. They are employed in mobilization, peace and security activities. Initially, they were very useful in the registration of persons - even for passports and identity cards. Yet, the law under Cap.128(7) of the Chiefs Act allows the chief to employ any person. Now, employment implies obviously some form of remuneration. It recognizes that part of remuneration. So, really, unless the remuneration is put in place, they are bound to have all manner of rent- seeking activities, where the same elders may want to pay themselves by using other means. Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir, with those many remarks, I beg to support this Motion."
}