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{
    "id": 386451,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/386451/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 151,
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    "content": "Mr. Speaker, Sir, when I listen to Members of this House - and some have been here for a long time - talk and blame the Government for this or that, yet that function has been put in county government and that the Senate shall be the one to protect and ensure that those functions are delivered, I do not know whom we are complaining to. If you are complaining about things that are going to be done by your county government or things that you have a responsibility as a Senator to ensure that the resources are channelled there, it means that we are abdicating our responsibility. I request all of us to hold hands together, demand resources to the county and channel them there. Mr. Speaker, Sir, in my estimation, there are certain factors that are likely to hamper devolution. The first one is the bureaucratic bottlenecks and the spirit of centralism in the national government. My fear is that most of the people in the system who are expected, under the Constitution, to midwife devolution for the next three or four years, perhaps, do not understand it. I have interacted with them and they do not understand that they have to let go some of the functions that they are doing now. It would be our responsibility, even if the President has promised that he is going to support devolution, as Senators to ensure that we police institutions at the national Government, starting with the Treasury. I want to congratulate Mr. Rotich who has been nominated to that Ministry. He has been an insider and should his name pass in the National Assembly, I believe that such officers must be reminded of the onerous task before them to ensure that resources are released to the counties. Mr. Speaker, Sir, the other danger to devolution is ignorance. The members of the public do not know what to expect from whom. Sometimes they ask from Senators that which they should expect from the Governors and sometimes they ask from county representatives things that they should expect from the Member of the National Assembly. We need to ensure that the necessary committees of this House do everything. We need to do our best to educate our people as to what devolution entails and who is supposed to do what. The Constitution requires Kenyans to participate in matters of governance. They cannot do so, if they do not understand what those matters are and what they entail. Therefore, civic education is going to be very important and the relevant Ministry must ensure that it is done. Mr. Speaker, Sir, regarding the issue of the Equalization Fund, Article 204 of the Constitution says that the fund will be used to speed up development in areas that have been marginalized so that they can invest in water, roads, housing and other infrastructure. However, the Cheserem Commission decided to channel those resources based on counties and yet the Constitution says “areas”. It means that you can have a county like Nyeri doing well, but Kieni is a marginalized area. So, you have to do something to ensure that that area is taken care of. It means that you could have Kajiado as a rich county, but some parts are marginalized. So, it is important for us to ensure that the Equalization Fund is given to the areas that are marginalized and not to the counties. Finally, I want to talk about the issue of devolution and the Constituencies Development Fund (CDF). We need to clarify the place of the CDF in the devolved 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."
}