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{
    "id": 187333,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/187333/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 299,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "Mr. Chanzu",
    "speaker_title": "",
    "speaker": {
        "id": 11,
        "legal_name": "Yusuf Kifuma Chanzu",
        "slug": "yusuf-chanzu"
    },
    "content": "Madam Temporary Deputy Speaker, I respect the Minister. He is a friend of mine. I was just giving it as an example. I do not deal with money. If the arithmetic is wrong, it will be corrected. The engagement of the village elders should be formalised. What I would like to suggest, and I hope the Mover of the Motion will take it into account, I would like a situation where we can overhaul the Chiefs Act. The Inter-Parties Parliamentary Group (IPPG) in 1997 removed a lot of powers from the chiefs. I think it is high time that we overhaul the Chiefs Act. I have been telling my chiefs in Vihiga Constituency that we are looking forward to a day when chiefs will be popularly elected by wananchi! We do not want this business of just making recommendations single-handedly. A chief can even turn against you after you have recommended that he be employed. Madam Temporary Deputy Speaker, we want total overhaul of the Chiefs Act. I hope Mr. Wamalwa is listening to this. This is a very important Motion but I think we need to overhaul the Chiefs Act completely, or even get rid of it. That way, somebody who is elected like me, Mr. Wamalwa or the Minister there, can take--- That is because we are elected by the majority of the people in the constituencies. We are actually talking about devolution. We have seen how much the CDF has been able to do. Every time we resist change, but we have seen what CDF has been able to do. We have seen what LATF has been able to do. Why can we not go further and formalise the ligutus ' employment? Even if it was Kshs600 million, I think it is very little money. For a country that has got an annual budget of about Kshs700 billion, what is Kshs600 million or Kshs60 million? I was just saying that elders should be paid Kshs1,000, but we can even make it Kshs10,000. Considering that Members of Parliament take home about Kshs1 million per month--- On the salary, we have got Kshs851,000 for Back benchers like me. I think Kshs800,000 is closer to Kshs1 million than Kshs500,000. So, why can we not pay them even Kshs10,000? I would not mind. Madam Temporary Deputy Speaker, hon. Members talked about increasing the CDF amount to even 10 per cent. We are talking about 10 per cent out of 100 per cent. If we can increase CDF, then Members of Parliament can take care of Ligutus through the CDF. I would not mind. The village elders should be engaged openly. They should not be engaged through the chiefs. Those posts should be advertised openly because it is a matter of leadership. I am sure that if we do it openly, everybody will be involved and we will get the right people. Village elders play a very important role in information collection and gathering. We need to formalise their engagement, pay them well, hire them through the mainstream Government employment or through constituencies. With those few remarks, I beg to support."
}