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"content": "this board, being the legitimate representative and official spokesman of the country. So, let us not make mistakes and not even debate this issue. The position of the vice-chair can be debatable, but the chair must remain the Senator of that county. Mr. Speaker, Sir, this Bill provides an opportunity for us to discharge our constitutional responsibilities in Article 96. This is because Article 96 (c) talks about oversight. Now, if I do not know what is happening in my county, what development projects, resources and gaps are there, how do I exercise oversight or even defend the interests of that county? How do I try to figure out how to fill in the resource or capacity gaps that exist in that county? So, this Bill helps us to implement Article 96 and unite the county. Mr. Speaker, Sir, many counties now are speaking in ten, 20 or 30 languages. I want to assure the nation that any county that does not speak in one voice, in terms of development, is headed nowhere. So, we are forcing leaders to work together. I have to work together with my Governor, not because I like him or anything, but because the Constitution demands that for the county system of government to work, you must put together the different leadership, so that we can harmonize our development initiative. So, we are trying to bring unity in the county. Mr. Speaker, Sir, however, I think that the membership is a bit too bloated. I think that there are too many MCAs there. There is the majority leader, minority leader, the MCA in charge of the budget, the executive committee and so on. When the Governor is there, for example, you do not need his deputy there. Secondly, you cannot bring a member of the county executive committee and the Governor is already a member. That is undermining the authority of the Governor, if he is there as a member, with one vote and then, you bring an executive committee member and deputy governor. So, once you have the Governor, period. Secondly, we should not have the majority leader and minority leader. Let us have a maximum of two MCAs identified in whatever formula, rather than have all these people. Therefore, I think that the membership needs to be rethought. Mr. Speaker, Sir, I have heard people saying that the reason the Senate is sponsoring this Bill is because we have no work to do. I do not think that there is anything that can be far from the truth. We have a lot of work. In fact, some of us were a bit cautious. I want to support what Sen. Billow Kerrow said. Initially, Sen. Billow Kerrow, Sen. Mutahi Kagwe and I were a bit uncomfortable with this Bill, because we thought that we did not want to take part in the executive functions in the county. We thought that, that is the work of the Governor and our work is to oversight and do the politics that will profile our counties to attract investments and resources which many counties are forgetting and have a national profile. When we devolve 15 per cent of revenues to the counties, 85 per cent of the national revenue remains with the national Government. So, it is the work of Senators to make sure that their county gets an equitable share of the 85 per cent that remains in Nairobi. So, we have a lot of work to do. I do not know why the focus has been on how the 15 per cent in counties is handled; that is a very small fraction of the budget. So, the point I am making here, Mr. Speaker, Sir, is that truth be told; you will not move forward as a county unless – and the Governors that are here should hear this: the way the Constitution is structured, it provides for dispersal of powers horizontally and 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"
}