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"content": "where the politicians and also members of the public can participate in the development of the county government. So, clearly, the way it is, we are almost nine months down the line and yet, the county government has never thought about that. If we leave this responsibility to the county government, it means that this forum will never be established. So, clearly, this particular Bill is very important. Mr. Speaker, Sir, secondly, from the petition forum that we had at the county level, there are so many things that came out of the governors and representatives of the Governors. I joined the team that went to Mt. Kenya and it clearly came out that in some instances, the Governor and Deputy Governor are not even on talking terms. When you go to the Governor, he will tell you that he does not know where the Deputy Governor is. I do not want to mention names, but there is a Deputy Governor who appeared before us and when we asked him whether the Governor was coming, he said that he did not know. Then, in the same forum, we found out that the executive committee members do not even know whether or not money has been sent to the county governments. Actually, it was very embarrassing when one of the executive committee members said that he did not have money in his docket, yet the person who has the information was seated in front of him. So, it is very embarrassing and shows that there is a lot of disconnect. If we have this forum, it will help us to deal with all those issues that are coming up at the county level. Mr. Speaker, Sir, capacity building is a big problem. I think that what we are looking for, as a Senate, is to complement and help each other. Initially, there was hostility from the county governments and governors. They did not want this forum, but I am very happy to report here that save for the position of the chair, they really support this Bill. Mr. Speaker, Sir, we have the mandate to protect and oversee the county governments. If we are really supposed to carry out our mandate, then this is the best forum. We cannot sit here and purport to be protecting county governments, yet we do not know what is happening on the ground. So, clearly, this forum will give us the basis or ground upon which we will be able to deliver on our mandate. Mr. Speaker, Sir, from the same petition forum that we had, we found out that there are so many funds that go to the county governments. For instance, you will find that one particular project is actually financed by different bodies. The Constituencies Development Fund (CDF) is funding a particular project and the Governor is also contributing to the same project. If we really want to use the funds allocated to the counties properly and come up with the proper funding of those particular projects, we should use this forum to consolidate the energies that we are wasting running around and everybody doing their own things. Mr. Speaker, Sir, in the forum of the Committee on Legal Affairs and Human Rights that I sit in, we found out that some of the civil societies were actually against this particular Bill. It is really embarrassing and disappointing to hear from the civil society that the Senate is interested in only money. What we are looking at is a platform where we can deliver on our mandate and help our communities and also serve the purpose that we are meant to serve. Mr. Speaker, Sir, some of the county assemblies are saying that we are taking up the role of the Executive. We are not interested at all in taking up the responsibility or 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"
}