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{
    "id": 450521,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/450521/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 132,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "Sen. Murungi",
    "speaker_title": "",
    "speaker": {
        "id": 93,
        "legal_name": "Kiraitu Murungi",
        "slug": "kiraitu-murungi"
    },
    "content": "Thank you, Mr. Speaker, Sir. I was commending Sen. Sang and the other Members of the Mediation Committee. The Mediation Committee had very distinguished Members from both Houses, led by the former Attorney-General Emeritus, Sen. Wako, Sen. Sang and myself, who are distinguished lawyers from this House. We had hon. Chepkonga and other lawyers from the other House. I must commend all the colleagues because we worked very well as brothers. However, there was no sister in the team. I recommend the spirit within which we arrived at this Report. Every issue was agreed on by consensus. We have been bad neighbours with our brothers and sisters from the National Assembly. But now that we are in the same building, I would urge my colleagues to improve our relationship with our brothers in the other House. Mr. Speaker, Sir, we already passed the original version of this Bill on 28th of November, 2013. Very slight amendments have been made and those amendments are to remove the sub-county development boards, the ward development boards to make Governors the Vice Chairpersons of the County Development Boards. We also made different provisions for the women Members, which I will highlight as I take you through the Bill. Mr. Speaker, Sir, Article 96 of the Constitution gives us two roles; first, to protect and promote the interests of the counties. Secondly, is oversight the national resources that go into the counties. The question is: What are those interests? A Senator represents a huge geographical area with varied, opposing and sometimes contradictory interests. It is necessary for us to have a forum where those interests can be mediated. We are not only talking about the funds that go to the county governments, but we are also talking about the national Government funds from those units which are not devolved and which find their way into our counties. There is a need for us to make sure that there is no overlap and misuse of funds either from the national Government or the county governments. So, we cannot represent interests that we do not know about. Mr. Speaker, Sir, there is a very real possibility that a Senator can be alienated or a Senator can be a stranger in the very county that he or she represents. This Bill creates a connection between a Senator and the county. We all know that the Senator is the senior politician in the county. It is his duty to bring all the political forces together and to listen to them in order to get those interests articulated so that he can be informed as he represents those interests before this Senate. What is greater interest than development interest? Wananchi are not interested in the beautiful language that we use. They are not interested in some of the issues that arise out there. They are only interested in tangible issues of development. If a Senator does not address those issues, then he fails in his cardinal duty of representing the county in this Assembly. 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."
}