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{
    "id": 450419,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/450419/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 30,
    "type": "other",
    "speaker_name": "",
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    "speaker": null,
    "content": "Sub-county level, the Sub-county Development Boards would almost mirror what the CDF are doing in the constituencies and in one way or the other, they may appear to be competing in terms of responsibilities with the CDF group. We agreed as a team that that may not be necessary. The same applies to a Ward Development Board. Therefore, as Members of Senate sent to this Mediation Committee, we all agreed. Mr. Speaker, Sir, it is also important to note that many issues contained in this Bill have been misunderstood. I want to raise an issue that Members of the Council of Governors over the weekend put a paid up advert in all our daily newspapers indicating their objection to the provisions of this Bill. One of the shocking issues is that the Council of Governors referred to certain provisions that do not exist in this Bill. They still raised objection to the existence of Sub-county Development Boards. That is something that we have addressed and no longer exists in this Amendment Bill. They raised issues with the existence of Ward Development Boards which do not exist within the Bill. Therefore, it is quite unfortunate that the Council of Governors would go ahead and present issues that are not contained in this Amendment Bill and present as if they are. The other misconception that has been continually perpetuated is the notion that the County Development Boards have executive powers. If you look at the agreed version of the Bill, we are very categorical that the function of these Boards in our counties is to provide for a forum for all the county leadership as provided for in this amendment for leaders to meet, discuss and agree on issues affecting their counties. Therefore, it is unfortunate that leaders within the counties will continue to mislead Kenyans that the functions of this Boards are executive when, in fact, as provided for as you can read, they are advisory. We need to be very honest with Kenyans. Most of our counties have faced a lot of challenges in the recent past; challenges ranging from the impeachment Motions that have been discussed in our counties, insecurity that continues to face our counties, conflicts among leaders in a county, issues of prioritization of development projects within the counties, issues of ensuring that we have balanced development and equitable distribution of projects by county governments across the counties. We are hearing issues of exclusion of certain constituencies and certain communities within counties and some of these things can only be addressed if you have a forum where leaders sit down together, discuss and iron them out. Mr. Speaker, Sir, it is really dishonest to see leaders continually using county resources to put paid up advertisements which are misleading Kenyans on the contents of this Bill. This means that some of them have even not read the Amendment Bill. Therefore, I want to call upon all the stakeholders involved, that let us be honest with ourselves, look at the provisions of the Bill and the intention which is not to take up constitutional powers given to Governors or county assemblies. We are just providing a forum and a platform for county leadership to sit down on a round table and address issues affecting their counties. 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."
}