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"id": 439030,
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"speaker_name": "Sen. Kembi-Gitura",
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"legal_name": "James Kembi Gitura",
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"content": "Thank you, Mr. Speaker, Sir, for the opportunity. From the very outset, I wish to thank Sen. (Dr.) Khalwale for bringing out or thinking out this very important Bill because it is going to save us a lot of problems, heartaches and headaches going forward in the county matters. Mr. Speaker, Sir, Section 6 of the Act that we are amending defines Nairobi as the Capital City of Kenya, and it clearly states that Nairobi shall be the place where the seat of the national Government and offices of diplomatic missions will be; and then it says that it is the centre of industry for this country. So, that one is clear and is very important so that, one day and until the law is changed, somebody does not then decide to move the seat of Government from Nairobi to another city. Mr. Speaker, Sir, the importance of this Bill cannot be gainsaid because even as we are sitting here now, you will find that in some counties, some Governors have been mooting with the question of moving national days like Jamhuri Day through the county from town to town so that they can hold the national day at a town of their choice in the counties. I think this will be dangerous, and that is why even in Kenya, we have not had Jamhuri Day being moved from one big town to the next one just to satisfy Kenyans. That is why Section 6 of the Act that we are amending is so important because it defines the capital city of Kenya as Nairobi. Mr. Speaker, Sir, I am also very happy that Sen. (Dr.) Khalwale has, in the Schedule, stated the seat of each county government. Before he moved the Motion, I was worried because when he talks about an urban area, it does not define anything at all. When he says that Murang’a County shall be based in Murang’a urban area, it says nothing because the urban area is defined at Section 4 of the Act, and it means “municipality or town.” Then, if you go to Section 9, a municipality which the Governor has the power to confer in consultation with the National Assembly, is a place or a town with at least 200,000 people. Hardly any county in Kenya today apart from Nairobi, Mombasa and Kisumu – and maybe Eldoret and Nakuru – has a population near 200,000. So, none will qualify. Mr. Speaker, Sir, Section 10 refers to townships and defines them as “a place with a minimum of 10,000 people.” Again, just like Sen. (Dr.) Khalwale has said so clearly, a lot of counties do not have centres that have more than 10,000 people. Therefore, in his definition of urban areas, it would have ruled out a lot of counties from having properly defined urban centres, where the seat of power is going to be. So, I want to thank him for bringing out and proposing that it needs to be amended in that respect. But, Mr. Speaker, Sir, there are some counties where we have more than one town which qualifies on all fours; like we have Kiambu, you go to Juja, Thika or to Kiambu Town or to Limuru. You will find that those are towns which could all qualify to be urban areas. Therefore, when you talk about Kiambu urban area, you do not give a definition that is definite and which can be followed. 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."
}