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"content": "will work tirelessly towards serving, not just the people of Murang’a, but also the people of this great Republic. Mr. Speaker, Sir, I think that this will be an opportune moment for me also to take this opportunity to thank my colleagues, Senators, for having elected me to be their Deputy Speaker in this House. I would like to assure them that as this is my very strong belief, I will work tirelessly in that position. I want to assure that I will work without fear, favour or affection. I will serve each and every Senator, this Senate and our country without equivocation. Mr. Speaker, Sir, looking at the President’s Address that he gave at the opening of Parliament, I stand here to support it. Article 96 of the Constitution sets out very clearly what the role of the Senate shall be. Listening to my colleagues here yesterday and even this morning, I would like to add my voice and support to those of my colleagues, who looking at Article 96 and appreciating the mandate of the Senate, take the view that we, Senators, must at all times take an extremely bipartisan approach in the way we look at the issues that confront us. We are 67 in number. Forty seven of us are elected and we represent the 47 counties. That is a very small number that now encompasses the whole country. So, it is my very strong belief that we, as Senators, have that very big role and duty not just of bringing this country together and bringing out the issues that confront us, as a nation together, but also to try and look for solutions. We should not complain about things that have passed. This is the first Senate under a very elaborate Constitution that will give us guidance on how we will deal with our affairs in the future. So, we must take Article 96 very seriously. Mr. Speaker, Sir, when we talk about the oversight role over the county governments, what does that really entail? We have the 47 county governments. I am happy to see that most of them are already up and running. Some of them have even nominated the people who are going to be in their county executive committees. It is my very strong belief that devolution is the solution to the problems that we have had in this country. If we are going to achieve our Vision 2030, I am convinced that devolution is what will accelerate and help us achieve it maybe much sooner or so soon thereafter the year 2030. But there are very many things that we need to do. First and foremost, we, as a Senate, are in charge of determining the allocations to the counties. I do not know exactly at what point we are going to do that under Article 96, because what I believe is that the Cheserem Commission is an arm that will come up with formulas that then we, as Senators, will look at, approve and determine whether or not they are workable. This is what we should be putting down to the Commission. It should not be the other way round. It should not be the Commission telling us how the money will be allocated, but it is for us to tell them. I believe they will show us the formula that they are proposing. For us we will discuss it as a Senate and come up with the actual figures that will go to all the 47 counties, depending on the needs and ratios of poverty, population and all those other things that we shall need to look at. Mr. Speaker, Sir, the county assembly members, at all our various counties, again in my very considered opinion, are going to be the most important tool that will hasten the development of this nation. Therefore, since the devolved funds will be going to the counties and it will be not for us, as Senators, to deal with the actual cash, like Members of Parliament and the Constituencies Development Fund (CDF), or as councillors used to The electronic version of the Senate Hansard Report is for information purposes only. A certified version of this Report can be obtained from the Hansard Editor, Senate."
}