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{
    "id": 469450,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/469450/?format=api",
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    "content": "and we could go back to the year 1966, when the devolution system was wound up purely by denial of sufficient resources. Mr. Speaker, Sir, I am happy that our other friend, Sen. (Prof.) Nyong’o, has come back; welcome Professor. You will recall for the last 30 years what a struggle we have waged in this country against an imperial presidency. That struggle has been waged in the streets; it has been waged in Parliament and even today, it is being waged here on the Floor of the Senate. Mr. Speaker, Sir, there have been cries for devolution. Sen. Orengo has given the constitutional provisions - Article 1, 6, 10, 174, 175 among others – and the whole principle of devolution was really to dismantle those concentrated powers in the centre so that we could ensure equitable sharing of national and local resources to all Kenyans so that we could also facilitate decentralization of the state organs, functions and services from the Capital City, Nairobi, to all the corners of this country. Mr. Speaker, Sir, given the context and the rough terrain we are seeing, it may not be possible to achieve these constitutional objectives. It is very sad that despite the very clear promises made by President Uhuru Kenyatta and the Deputy President William Ruto, on several occasions, including to the Members of the Senate who are seated here; that this Government will implement the principles of devolution as set out in the Constitution, what we are seeing on the ground is different. When a Government changes, the Minister and the Permanent Secretaries also change but the rest of the Government officials remain in place. We have a fossilized level of Government, from Job Group “K” up to Job Group “S”. These do not change. If you look at the senior civil servants in the Government today, you will see that these are the people who were recruited at the height of the imperial presidency in the 1980s and they are the ones we are relying on to implement devolution. This can be compared to former President Nyerere trying to introduce socialism among capitalists in Tanzania. The implementation of devolution has begun with endless debates, conflicts and quarrels between that realm of Government and those who want change. This grand standing you are seeing with this lady, Sarah Serem, is something that she is not doing by herself. She is representing some forces and the whole intention is to frustrate devolution. It is to demoralize Senators and members of the county assemblies so that we give up. However, you should send a very clear message that we are not giving up. The whole idea is to deny Senators and county assembly members resources to make devolution effective in this country. We should see clearly through this game and insist on financial and administrative autonomy for both the Senate and the county governments. With regard to the Transitional Authority (TA) which is charged with mid-wifing the devolution process, if you look at the officers manning it, you will see that they are the same fossilized civil servants that I am talking about. In Section 7 of the Transition to Devolved Government Act, the Authority is supposed to prepare an inventory of all assets and liabilities of existing instructions of the existing governments including local governments so that those can be sorted out and we give a clean start to the county governments. Unless those debts are paid, there will be no money at all even for the new 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."
}