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{
    "id": 359127,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/359127/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 412,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "Hon. H.K. Njuguna",
    "speaker_title": "The Member for Gatanga",
    "speaker": {
        "id": 1508,
        "legal_name": "Humphrey Kimani Njuguna",
        "slug": "humphrey-kimani-njuguna"
    },
    "content": " Thank you, hon. Deputy Speaker. I had to relocate from that side, so that I could “steal” the Chair’s eye. I am Humphrey Kimani Njuguna; the Member for Gatanga. I rise in support of this Motion because, in principle, this Motion supports devolution. If you look at Chapter 11 of our Constitution, which is basically the chapter on devolution; particularly, Articles 174 and 175, you will see that it talks of the rights of the local communities to manage their own affairs and further their development. Further, the Articles talk about the rights for equitable sharing of local and national resources around the country. In addition to that, the Government is mandated to have reliable resources and revenue, so that the devolved governments can function. Hon. Deputy Speaker, right from the beginning, we realise that the county governments are having teething problems and one of their major challenges is revenue generation. Devolution being a reality in this country, it is not negotiable because it was part of Kenyan’s sovereign rights. We must, therefore, address the issue of funding of the county governments. This is a big challenge because even though our Constitution guarantees county governments 15 per cent of national revenue, it is not enough. We need to explore ways and means of supporting the county governments. One of the best ways of doing this is making sure that they can generate their own resources. This Motion gives a way forward in terms of seeing light at the end of the tunnel in the sense that it talks about devolving the agro-based industries to the counties. For obvious reasons, the agro-based industries – be they the Nyayo Tea Zones or the cotton industry, among others – were in the past used as conduits of self-enrichment. They were mismanaged through macro-management and lack of local community participation in their affairs to the extent that the local communities viewed them as foreign industries. So, devolving the agro-based industries to the counties is likely to change their management in the sense that the people will participate in the running of their affairs and"
}