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"content": "vertically; and the role of the Governor as the chief executive in the county and the Senator, as the chief diplomat and defender of the county, are intertwined. We are joined together and, mark you, if for whatever reason there is no synchrony between the two, the most likely casualty is going to be the Governor because you are the one there running the programmes. You know, during the first year, you do a few things; in the second year, people start saying “O, we are not seeing this---” My work as a Senator is to speak loudest and to make sure that I am telling whoever needs to hear about whatever is missing in the counties or saying “this is not being done.” So, really, we are actually helping governors to do their job in a way indirectly. I am now satisfied; I have looked at this Bill in terms of the functions which are proposed and I do not think any functions that are proposed here are executive in nature. I am willing to entertain any amendment that can remove any inclination to this board having executive powers at the county; it is an advisory organ and the more reason why the Senator should chair it is because you cannot advise yourself. So, the Governor cannot chair a board that is advisory on county government. So, it requires an independent person, and none of them is greater than the Senator, who is the official spokesperson of the county. Mr. Speaker, Sir, I really want to support this Bill; it falls within the Constitution. I can go on and on; I can go on and cite Article 10 of the Constitution, which says that among the national values that we have as a nation is public participation and democracy. I can cite – as I have already cited Article 6(3) – Article 91 of the County Government Act, which says that at the county level, avenues for elected leaders will be provided for so that they can participate in the governance and management of county issues. So, this is a fairly straight forward thing; I do not know what the debate is; and sensing the mood in this House, this Bill should be passed hastily. I have also informally assessed the mood in the Lower House, which is pro this Bill, and I can assure you that given this kind of situation, we are going to give Kenyans the best Christmas gift ever. If we can pass it before Christmas, we could have done this country a great service. Finally, Mr. Speaker, Sir, even as we struggle to fix devolution, the Senate is experiencing unnecessary provocations; and we want to encourage that you may have to consult a bit more with your counterpart in the National Assembly so that we can really concentrate on our core Business. We are restrained from responding to some of the things which have been raised, but we hope that the channels of communication will continue working so that our people and the people of this country who have put us in office can continue enjoying the fruits of their work, and that is by getting legislation passed, This is one of those legislations that will give this Senate very high marks. Once again, I laud Sen. Sang for sponsoring this Bill. Mr. Speaker, Sir, with those many remarks, I beg to support."
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