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"id": 262199,
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"speaker_name": "Mr. Chachu",
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"legal_name": "Francis Chachu Ganya",
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"content": "Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir, I support this Bill. I want to thank the Minister for Local Government for a well thought out Bill which I think is well anchored on the provisions of our Constitution as far as the Chapter on devolution is concerned. Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir, for some of us who come from the marginal north, the Bill of Rights and the provisions of the Constitution on devolution are the key milestones in terms of what we want to achieve as a people. I strongly believe that if well implemented, this Bill which really brings life to the whole issue of devolution will ensure our people will be well represented. For the first time they will have the destiny of their development and of their future in their hands. To ensure governance at the county level, we will be accountable to our people. It will also ensure that all the issues we have been complaining about for the last 50 years since this country gained Independence, for the first time, we will be able to be drivers of our own destiny. It addresses the issue of socio-economic development of our counties. It even goes further and ensures that we have sound and well integrated planning for our counties. It will also enable us to harness our own advantages as counties in different parts of this county. Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir, I really want to commend the Minister for having brought to life all those provisions in the Constitution which really give life to the whole concept of devolution. It will enable even those parts of the country considered poor or marginalized to have their destiny in their hands. For too long, some of us have felt that, as a nation, this country has never planned for us. Marsabit County is supposed to be part of Eastern Province. For us to get support from the administration in terms of security or any management aspect of our region, we have to travel to Embu. It is even easier and faster to get to Nairobi than Embu. It is the same for the Turkanas who have to go to Nakuru. For the first time, our development will be anchored and centred in our own counties. Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir, on issues of security when our people are killed by Ethiopians before those reports get to Embu and then to Nairobi, maybe two or three days have elapsed. The Governor who is the representative of the people, being the chairman of the County Security Committee, will ensure that we link with Nairobi fast enough and take the necessary measures and actions to safeguard the lives of our people. I want to commend the Bill on that particular element. I know it was a very acrimonious issue at one point. There was a lot of debate on this but I am so glad a decision has been made. I think it is in the best interest of this county for the security and safety of all Kenyans. The Bill also goes further and ensures that the minorities and marginalized groups within our counties are well protected and their interests are well catered for by the county government as well as the National Government as clearly articulated in our Constitution. Four out of the ten minority communities in the Republic of Kenya are from Marsabit County. Those are; the El Molos, the Dasnach, the Rendille and the Gabra. As provided for in the Constitution, this Bill will ensure that those minorities will have their rights and space to meet their development needs. This is not because we want to do so but because the law says so and the Constitution provides for it. I really commend this Bill in that particular aspect. Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir, in terms of county planning and integrated development planning for our counties, I hail from a county whereby not a single planning has been done in the last 50 years. Not a single title has been issued to people of North Horr Constituency. It is not only that, when they plan they come and curve out our land for national parks. For the first time this county will take a critical role to plan and ensure that whether it is in terms of land use planning, industrialization or keeping of livestock in terms of putting up ranches if need be, we will be able to harness the opportunity. With a sound planning, a good county government with a vision the so called less endowed parts of this nation may be can give resources and enable this country develop and harness a lot of resources which up to now have not been appreciated. Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir, when you look at planning in most of these constituencies in arid areas we get more funds for agriculture, especially North Horr which is a desert and not a single part is arable, instead of getting money for livestock keeping. There is very little we can do in terms of cultivation unless you go into dry land irrigation which we are yet to. This does not make any sense. This is planning that is urban-based and highly centralized in Nairobi. People of northern Kenya have not given the opportunity to plan for their own development and what will make sense in their own economic well being. This Bill also gives the county the capacity to raise own revenues, locally or internationally. If the people from Botswana are able to sell beef or our friends Ethiopians to the Middle East and other parts of the world, why not people of northern Kenya? Marsabit County produces the most number of goats in Kenya but is there a single market for livestock in Nairobi? There is this informal trade called Kariobangi managed by cartels of brokers. For the first time, as a county, we will be able not only to transact business nationally but also sell our livestock and products anywhere in the world including the Middle East. This Bill and the Constitution provides for and enable us to do that. May be ten years from now, Kenyans who have been dependent on food aid for 50 years may be in a position to feed parts of this country. Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir, I do not understand the rationale behind capping the wards to 1,450. Some of our wards are as big as the whole of Western Province. I have five wards now in an area of 4,000 square kilometres. I wonder how a county representative will be able to represent his people in an area without a single tarmac road, a single public transport and with less than ten vehicles available for use. I think there are some elements of this that need to be re-thought if Kenyans have to be represented. I also commend the Bill for the professional management of our counties. It ensures that people of integrity, people who are well trained and people with university degrees will be steering the management of those counties. Any part of this country whether Hola, North Horr or Isiolo has enough graduates. I totally disagree with my friend Mr. Mungatana who said that for some of those in marginal areas we should go for post-secondary education. This is not necessary. We want our counties to be well managed professionally. We have the capacity. We have the resources. We want our counties to compete with the best in Kenya. We want our counties to compete with Nairobi, Kiambu and others. Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir, I totally support the Bill as it is and I will be the first person to oppose that amendment if it is brought to the Floor of this House. In terms of accountability of our County Governments, it is very important that the Governors are managed and whatever they do are approved by the county representatives. All the appointments should be vetted professionally by the sectors set up with the counties to ensure that we have sound managers with integrity and necessary qualifications running the business of our counties. The Constitution provides for that and business should not be as usual any more in this country. Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir, the Bill also provides for gender equality in our counties. Some of us hail from counties whereby it has been very difficult to have women representation. For our own cultural reasons, it has been difficult to elect women to any organ of representation. I am so glad that the Constitution, and in fact, this Bill will actually condition and force our people to elect women. We have educated women of integrity who are capable of running the affairs of our counties and who can provide the support we need in the development of our counties. For our cultural reasons it has been difficult for us, but for the first time our people will be forced and conditioned by the law to elect women to those useful offices in our counties. This Bill, I am so glad, gives the necessary weight to that element. In the whole of Marsabit County there is only one elected councilor. I am proud to say that she hails from North Horr. For the first time, women will have important roles to play in the development of our nation as well as our counties. I thank the Minister for that element of the Bill. As the Minister has clearly provided for in the Bill, it is important to give our people the necessary civic education. They need to understand and appreciate these issues. Today we have a crisis in Marsabit County just because we have never understood the whole concept of devolution. We have never appreciated the whole concept of us coming together as nations and communities to govern ourselves. There is so much for all of us. There is enough for all of us in terms of governance. There is no reason for us to be at war when, indeed, we can sit round a table and understand what is there in terms of governance and management. We can all be party to this. In order to reduce unnecessary tensions and conflicts in the most of these marginal constituencies, it is important for the Ministry to conduct civic education in local languages so that our people can understand exactly what the County Governments are all about. Right now, in some quotas, due to lack of understanding, it is viewed as unnecessary rivalry between different ethnic communities especially in areas where there are two or three dominant ethnic groups within a country. Civic education will go a long way in enabling us to live in peace. It will enable our counties to take off in a way that will make us realize the gains of County Governments. Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir, with those few remarks, I support the Bill."
}