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{
    "id": 386786,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/386786/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 166,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "Sen. Kajwang",
    "speaker_title": "",
    "speaker": {
        "id": 164,
        "legal_name": "Gerald Otieno Kajwang",
        "slug": "otieno-kajwang"
    },
    "content": "Mr. Speaker, Sir, first, I want to thank Sen. (Dr.) Khalwale for reminding us that, actually, we have as a matter of duty the right to address our County Assemblies because it says that we may. But I have not seen the rules of the County Assemblies themselves. I hope that in those same rules, it is provided that the Senators may attend the County Assembly proceedings and also a Committee of the County Assembly proceedings. If that is so, then I think that is the umbilical cord that connects us with the County Assembly. In fact, the County Assemblies look at us as their political leaders. In fact, they look up at us for direction. They look up to us for what direction they are supposed to go in matters of governance of those County Assemblies. Because of that, the speeches that will be made by the many of us who may attend will give direction to those governments on the way we would wish to see them go and also to remind them that one of our roles is not only to fight for their allocation, but also to look after that allocation – our oversight role, so that when the Senator appears in the office of the Governor, he or she knows that you have a role to look at how he manages his affairs, especially financial affairs. If that is not made clear, you might find that Senators might go to their County Governments and be ignored. It would be terrible that a Senator would come here and move a Motion to dissolve his own county assembly because it is not running properly; it is not accountable and transparent as it should be. So, this ceremony is more than a ceremony. It is an occasion to address the assembled representatives and to tell them that we are working together and that we will fight for them, where we must fight for them but we will oversight them where we must, and that we want to work together to see that this country moves forward. If you look at the Address of the President although it will come up for debate later, he says that devolution is the heart of his Government. I think that was beautiful to some of our ears because we fought many battles for devolution. In fact, when we call them devolved units, we undermine them because sooner or later, we will be calling them what we used to call the county councils. I think they are another level of Government recognized in our Constitution and we will work mutually with respect of each other and I think where we have a role to play, we will play it fiercely but always trying to help so that the whole country moves. 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."
}