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    "id": 386432,
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    "content": "amount of man hours lost in these traffic jams and the implications of that to the economy as a whole? We have spoken about this very many times, but it is my hope that this time around, what the President has talked about will not be in vain. I hope that we will see some real action on the ground. Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir, I want to also mention briefly about devolution. I know that the President has given an undertaking and expressed strong support for the devolved system of Government. However, in my view, he has not given adequate prominence to this important subject in his Speech. I had expected him to say a little more. In fact, the country was expecting him to say a little more, particularly how he intends to ensure that devolution works. There is a lot of excitement around the country about devolution. The wananchi out there see devolution as one thing that will help them, at least, to improve their lives. Devolution of both power and resources is, perhaps, the greatest innovation of this Constitution. It will have a profound positive impact on the lives of our people. It will address many of the development challenges that we have experienced before. In fact, it will help remove the threat of marginalization; real or perceived. Devolution will also help us to allocate national resources on a more equitable basis. Therefore, it is a very important thing and dear to the hearts of many of us and wananchi generally around the country. Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir, however, there are fears around the country because there are signals from a section of people in powerful positions in Government, pointing to lack of goodwill and commitment to devolution. We do not want to see any conflict between the national Government and the county governments. The county governments must be given space to operate and manage their affairs. We want to hear that funds are released to the counties in good time. We also want to see that counties have all the freedom, space and independence to implement their priorities without interference from the national Government. The Governors must be allowed to do their work and they must be supported to carry out their programmes. Devolution must be made to work for the benefit of all Kenyans. We, in this House, have been charged with the responsibility to ensure that devolution works. I urge fellow Senators in this House to make every effort to ensure that devolution becomes truly meaningful for the benefit of our country in all aspects of development. Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir, let me mention one other subject as I conclude my remarks. We had this nasty experience. We had a number of IDPs as a consequence of the conflict we had in 2007/2008 post election violence. A number of people were evicted from their areas of residence. In the experience of the people in Kisii County a lot of them came back to Kisii County and they ended up being accommodated by friends and relatives within the county. They did not go into camps like what we saw in other areas. Therefore, we have these large numbers of people who came out from all parts of the country running away from violence. They are now in Kisii in the villages with their relatives. Some of them are in churches and other public premises. We feel that sufficient attention has not been given to this category of IDPs. I know the Minister responsible 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."
}