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    "id": 262095,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/262095/?format=api",
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    "content": "provisions to allow the public to access information in accordance to Article 35 of the Constitution on matters dealing with county governments if they feel they need to know. Where there is a slight adjustment, I am just trying to trace the clause is that we do also provide that somewhere along the line it may be necessary at some stage to also allow some nominal fee to be paid some times for information. This is because also these county governments can just be flooded with all sorts of requests at any one time for information. So, we are saying do not deny, but perhaps there will be a requisite fee which can be determined by the county government to allow for the processing of the information that they require. This is not different from the fee that you pay when you want a search in the Ministry of Lands. Madam Temporary Deputy Speaker, Part 10 provides the principles of civic education. It is so clear that this process of devolution, what we are adopting, this form of government and as we move along, civic education will have to be serious and an integral part of the process. So, we are also providing the mechanisms and the parameters that should be guiding principles when we are conducting civic education in the counties. Then we come to Part 11, county planning. This we are making it mandatory because we all know the chaos we have seen in this country when it comes to planning and matters of development facilitation. So, again, we are bringing out this very clearly, what principles should be adopted, what should be the objective of county planning and then there is an obligation to every county government to make sure that they have plans. This is important because if they do not have plans, they could suffer some penalties in terms of financing because they will have to prepare budgets and so forth. So, this is a very serious issue and we intend to bring this out here because we must have discipline and must see if resources will go to these county governments. We cannot afford to have haphazard arrangements. There must be plans. They must be debated in the county assembly, approved and then on the basis of that the funding processes and the programmes can be done. We do not want the governor to be the one who now moves and makes roadside pronouncements just the way in the past we have seen presidents make roadside pronouncements which disrupt the planning process and budgets. We must equally safeguard and make sure that we shall not have rogue governors who will be moving around and imagining that the county resources are personal resources. They must be resources that are clearly planned for and everybody is clear that there is a plan which must be adopted and followed. Madam Temporary Deputy Speaker, again, that is given a lot of attention. I plead with hon. Members to support it, so that our county governments can start on a proper footing. Then we have Part 12 which deals with the county public services. This is the delivery of county public services. This is on part 12, Article 114 on page 91. We have the principles set out. Then specifically there is Article 115. Here we are also saying that there have to be standards and norms for public service delivery. We do not want people to take this for granted. This is taxpayers money. People are in office. They must ensure that there are certain standards that must be met in the delivery of their services. In Clause 116 there are shared services; these are services that can be shared either vertically between the National Government and the country Government or horizontal shared services between a county and another. I would like to remind Members that there is no more Central Government. There is National Government and the County Government. Again, some provisions are being made there."
}