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{
    "id": 427403,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/427403/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 116,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "Sen. Abdirahman",
    "speaker_title": "",
    "speaker": {
        "id": 161,
        "legal_name": "Abdirahman Ali Hassan",
        "slug": "abdirahman-ali-hassan"
    },
    "content": "Thank you, Mr. Speaker, Sir. I want to join my colleagues who supported this particular Motion on the transfer of functions to counties. From the outset, I want to say that we thank you, as the Speaker, and we thank the efforts of the Senate for allowing Senators to go to the regions that they represented. In fact, that gave us the opportunity, a firsthand experience or account of what the status of our counties are with regard to how they are performing. I also want to thank the various counties that made their representations with regard to the county functions that they appealed for. Mr. Speaker, Sir, I also want to take us back to how we faired in the first few months or how each of the players in the devolution process participated in these matters regarding the transfer of power and resources to the grassroots or to the local communities, including the Transition Authority (TA). There were mixed signals which had been sent from various quarters. We were starting to worry because some quarters, including those who are now saying that the Jubilee Government was supporting devolution, were getting a feeling that they were not giving it 100 per cent support. I say so because I remember attending one of the fora where the TA was participating with regard to matters that relate to health. In fact, they were not accorded an opportunity to give their side of the story. Mr. Speaker, Sir, as much as we have a provision for the Inter Governmental Relations Act or the formation of a Committee which is supposed to manage the affairs that relate to both the national and county governments, from a development perspective, I think TA is not a group that could just be replaced. When you have a baby that has just been born, the baby has to start suckling. The baby has to, probably, start sitting at one stage, crawling at another stage and even standing up to walk. Without having an institution like the TA, which was underfunded in the last financial year, we were going to actually contribute to the killing of the much sought for devolution, which we all want to associate with. Mr. Speaker, Sir, many people believe that counties do not have capacities. If counties do not have capacity, they do not have capacity because successive governments have actually managed them from the top, and that did not help the people much. Counties have capacity with regard to the functions. The functions that are now in the Report that we listened to from the county governments that relate to roads, Rural Electrification Authority (REA) and agricultural machinery. Even in the areas like the one that I come from, where people think they do not have potential in terms of 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."
}