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{
    "id": 474042,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/474042/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 257,
    "type": "other",
    "speaker_name": "",
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    "speaker": null,
    "content": "all elected leaders have a fund. Even the Senators should have a fund so that they can go and do something for their people. Today when you go to a meeting, you will find that everybody is coming out with a cheque except the Senator. As much as one would want to prove that you do not need a cheque, trust me, you will need it. When the governor and the Member of the National Assembly come with their cheques and the Senator has nothing, people will wonder what he is bringing on the table. Kenyans would wish to see all legislators do their work like legislation, build roads and come up with policies that can guide this country. Where we are headed, we cannot stop the vice. Right now, CDF has been allocated Kshs33 billion but next year it might be allocated Kshs50 billion. We must think on how we can come in and see development in the constituencies. When we talk of development, the next question we pose to the governors is: Are they bringing out institutions and foundations that will transform to better development? When you look at what happens in the constituency, it does not even translate to development. This Senate needs to amend the Public Finance Management Act to ensure that we put a ceiling on the spending by county assemblies or else some of them will be surcharged. The MCAs are just blackmailing the Governor. The county assemblies should have their budgets and should only make their requests. Madam Temporary Speaker, Kenyans are very worried. They are wondering whether devolution came so that MCAs can travel abroad. I would wish that they also engage in domestic travelling and benchmarking which can assist them to move forward. The Senate should look at different counties individually and tell us whether there is a county that can be cited as having the best practices. I would also like to say that the governors should stick to the functions spelt out in Fourth Schedule. Some of the challenges we are facing in this country is that governors are doing both national and county functions. How are we going to account for money used to perform a national function instead of a county function? How is the Governor going to justify the spending? The Auditor-General is not willing to listen to such justification. So, I want to ask the governors to stick to their functions and deliver the best services to the people of the county. If one wants to coordinate a function that is national, then the rules and procedures must be followed. Madam Temporary Speaker, I now want to talk about health. Women are suffering in terms of health. We would want to see the national Government and the county governments come together and discuss broadly on how to approach matters of health including referrals, districts hospitals, supply of medicine, delivery of services, nurses, doctors and so on. We are now getting to a situation where we are facing challenges with governors. They are starting several funds including a fund for the elderly, bursary funds and so on. We also have Women Representatives who are also being given funds and will also have bursaries, then the Member of the National Assembly also has bursary and therefore we need to ask ourselves how we shall cover all the children. We want Treasury to advise on this matter so that we can avoid duplication. 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."
}