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{
    "id": 248023,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/248023/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 206,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "Mr. Syongo",
    "speaker_title": "",
    "speaker": {
        "id": 316,
        "legal_name": "Zaddock Madiri Syong'oh",
        "slug": "zaddock-syongoh"
    },
    "content": "Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, the importance of devolution cannot be over emphasized. All hon. Members of this august House will recall during the deliberations at Bomas, one of the extremely sensitive issues was that of devolution of power. The interest and anxiety that was expressed as we debated that particular issue is a reflection of the importance of devolution to the Kenyan people. I want to report to this House that since the districts that the hon. Ojaamong wished to regularise were created, there has been significant improvement of security in those areas. This is because of the presence of the District Security Committees (DSCs) and police officers. Service delivery in all sectors has improved tremendously in those districts, because of the presence of key departmental heads such as those for agriculture, livestock, water, roads and others. There has been regular budgetary allocation from the Treasury directly to those districts to ensure service delivery to the people. There has been a strong sense of belonging and patriotism in this country because the feeling of the people has been affected by the creation of new districts. At last, there is a sense of self-governance. People now have a devolved unit that they feel they belong to and vice versa. Ultimately, there has been demonstrated equity and dispersal of the national cake to these areas which hitherto had been completely ignored and marginalised. For example, before the creation of Suba District, we did not have even a single police post in the whole of that area. Fortunately, we now have several of them. The road network was deplorable, in fact, non-existent. However, we now have some semblance of roads being constructed and maintained. We did not June 7, 2006 PARLIAMENTARY DEBATES 1177 have a single inch of electricity supply line, but now we can boast of the beginning of electrification in the rural areas of Suba District. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, the gazettment that this Motion urges to be done is simply to ratify what is already in the field. The administrative infrastructure is already in place and is operational as the Mover of this Motion has clearly stated. In the case of some of these districts, for example, Suba District, the corresponding county council has already been gazetted under the Local Authorities Act. In fact, we have one side of the law having recognised the existence of the district, but the other law, which is the Districts and Provinces Act, 1992, has not done what it is supposed to have done. So, in some of the districts it is the question of harmonising so that there is consistency and we are able to reduce the risk of uncertainty."
}