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{
    "id": 396344,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/396344/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 77,
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    "speaker_name": "",
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    "content": "Commerce and Economic Affairs meets with the executive committee members in charge of finance in the counties as well as the chairpersons of finance committees in the county assemblies. We can sit together and go through issues of budgeting and other financial matters that we shall be handling between now and the next five years. We should do this very soon. This will ensure that subsequent budgeting initiatives do not run into the kind of problems that Turkana County ran into. In any case, we need to have one mind or be on the same level of knowledge about this if we are to work constructively together. I keep on saying this that the Constitution of Kenya is in itself contradictory. In the earlier part of the Constitution, we, as an institution called Senate, are given the responsibility of defending, promoting and looking after counties in a very high sounding Article. Subsequently, when it comes to money issues, the Senate suddenly disappears and plays second fiddle to the National Assembly. If, indeed, we will defend, promote and look after counties, the most important instrument of promoting counties is money. When it comes to supporting counties, this Senate should be in the forefront of handling such responsibilities. So, as it were, although the referendum has for the time being, been put in the cooler, this question will keep on revisiting us. It will of necessity again, through the demands and requirements of the Constitution, be put to a referendum so that the people of Kenya can make a sane and sound decision on the role of this Senate in the running and implementation of devolution and county governance in our nation. I beg to second."
}