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"id": 429128,
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"speaker_name": "Hon. (Ms.) Odhiambo-Mabona",
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"speaker": {
"id": 376,
"legal_name": "Millie Grace Akoth Odhiambo Mabona",
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"content": "Hon. Deputy Speaker, so, if some of those county assemblies are not directed, it is not because they have ill motives. It is because they do not have direction. We have institutions that were put constitutionally to give direction, but they are not giving them direction. I have been listening to what the Senate is doing and there is actually no difference between what the Senate is doing and what we are doing. If we move in the same direction or the way that we are going, then very necessarily, one of the Houses will die. It will either be the Senate or this House. But there is no justification for having two Houses or two Chambers if we are doing exactly the same thing. Hon. Deputy Speaker, the House is very clear about the role of the Senate and the role of this House. There are things that, legislatively, the Senate cannot do. There are legislative things that if we do them here, they must be passed again by the Senate. However, what I am seeing is that everything that we do, the Senate also does the same. There is no clear-cut distinction and, really, there must be a body that gives that direction. I see it a lot also in terms of what our governors are doing. Hon. Deputy Speaker, so, I do not think really we would blame them too much. But I would want to say that one of the things that we need to devolve as a matter of urgency is the Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission (EACC). I know that many people have complained that we have counties where there are a lot of things which are written on paper but, if you look at what is on the ground, there is a divergence. We do not want to send our people to jail. We need to give people direction before they get to that level. Hon. Deputy Speaker, I have just spent a whole week in Mbita monitoring my projects. I think I went through almost 60 projects within that one week. I can tell you that when you do not monitor them, they will fail. That is because when people feel they have a free hand, they will do whatever they want. I could see the variance in different projects. When you give somebody Kshs700,000, he or she will build two complete classrooms which are painted and everything else, while somebody else with Kshs700,000 has not even left the ground. I know we will have to relook again at the Constituencies Development Fund (CDF) Act because many a times, things are not done properly. You then ask the Member of Parliament and yet, the powers of the Member of Parliament are very limited even in terms of management. Hon. Deputy Speaker, I am happy with the allocation that has been given to Rural Electrification Authority (REA). I come from one of the constituencies that have been marginalized. I know that there is a portion that has been given to the county. As I know, if we were selfish as Members of Parliament, we would have insisted that all that allocation goes to REA. But if we do want to build the capacity of our devolved system as Members of Parliament, we must begin to cede some of the mandates that we have had constitutionally. However, I know that the issue of electrification is shared and, therefore, I am, indeed, happy. Hon. Deputy Speaker, on the issue of Level 5 hospitals, when I was going around Mbita, one of the issues that my constituents kept raising is the level of our hospitals and one of the things that we need to do, which I am also going to bring here, is how we standardize and upgrade our hospitals. This is because in the whole of Homa Bay County if we do not have a Level 5 hospital then that is bad. I know in a way it may be beneficial because we will then use that money to benefit us because we do not have a Level 5 The electronic version of the Official Hansard Report is for information purposesonly. A certified version of this Report can be obtained from the Hansard Editor."
}