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"id": 262647,
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"speaker_name": "Mrs. Shebesh",
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"legal_name": "Rachel Wambui Shebesh",
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"content": "I want to finish on the emphasis of the governors because I think with hindsight, we over glorified, as politicians, this position of governor. I want to be very clear and I know many of my colleagues here are garning for governorship, but this is not a federal State. What we did in terms of devolution was to devolve resources and political power. We did not form federal States. So, this comparison with the way the Nigerian governors go in limousines and have their own flags is not certainly what we are expecting to see in Kenya at all. That misconception has been created by us and we must correct it. This correction means that there must again be some regulations on how far the flamboyance of a governor can be allowed. It must be tamed and you can see that everybody who has reached their apex believes that it is only governorship which is the next point. In fact, we have even seen people who want to resign from Government offices, like Permanent Secretaries and people who have ran corporations for years have decided that now governorship is the seat. We are not refusing that it is important, and please, save me from this governor to be of Tana River County. I agree that it is very important, but I would like us to tell Kenyans its importance in terms of what we expect from governors and not what we have seen from maybe in other countries. This brings me to the issue of women county representatives, a seat that I will be seeking in Nairobi. I really wonder what our role is. Everywhere I go, people never mention the women county representatives and I wonder then why it is in the Constitution. Why would I waste my energy and time going round campaigning while I am not recognised in the Senate, in the County Assembly and I am not sure that when I go to the National Assembly, the Members of Parliament there will give me much time. Really, if this County Governments Bill could not address that, I do not know who will save us. This is an Act of Parliament to actualize a Constitution that clearly gives three electoral units for the counties. I am sure it was not put there by mistake. There was a good reason. If we go behind that reasoning, we will understand whether the women county representatives was just to add numbers for women or there was a reason why we decided they be elected by the county. Following that, definitely, unless again we want to cause conflict and leave conflict to be dealt with by anybody, the mechanism of how the governor, the Senator and the county women representatives will work together because they represent the same county cannot be ignored. It does not matter how much we want to see who is more powerful than the other. We will ignore it at our own peril. I think we should bite the bullet. Since we are writing the law now, let us just define the roles, whether they are minimal or maximum rather than leaving them to people to politic about them or decide that they are going to ignore them. Already, just on a light touch, I have heard aspiring governors say that when Members of Parliament go to their meetings, they will just be asking them to wave at the crowd because they are the governors. Those are the kind of things that I am talking about. Let us just regulate them. Let us give people their roles and functions. Please, look at the role of the women county representatives and how she can be involved in the County Assembly and how she can translate that to the House where she will be sitting, which is the National Assembly. I want to thank the Minister and support this County Governments Bill. I believe that this is the future of the country and we are beginning a new step. I beg to support."
}