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{
    "id": 491499,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/491499/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 119,
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    "content": "hope that they will now sit and discuss issues that affect them. We hope that the country will not judge us harshly in what we are doing. Recently, you have seen everyone fighting in the county assemblies. People are wondering whether we really need county assemblies owing to the way Members have portrayed themselves. While we follow what the Constitution says; that Parliament shall enact legislation providing for powers and privileges, it is important for MCAs to observe and maintain certain standards of conduct both inside and outside the House. Members of the public should not come in with rats like we have been seeing. I would like to urge MCAs that if they want to be referred to as honourable, then they need to do their things in a humble and dignified way. While we look at this, there are implications to this. For a county assembly to function in an orderly manner is very important. I will give an example of sometime back when some MCAs in a county in the north eastern region used chairs to fight as a way of solving problems. We need to remember that as we give them privileges, we are not allowing them to go back into fighting in the assemblies, so as to kill one another just because nobody will interfere. That will be a very wrong way of looking at things. Individual MCAs must adhere to the rules of their assemblies so that they do not put their Speakers in situations where they cannot manage. Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir, for many years, this county has fought to see the decentralisation of Government resources. Kenyans did not anticipate the passing of the new Constitution to create many governments and MCAs. We want to urge county assemblies to come out clearly and prove to Kenyans that we need assemblies in the counties. They must come out and prove to Kenyans that the laws they propose cannot hinder people from attaining growth and development, but will provide more opportunities to emerge within the county governments. Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir, we, as Members of this House, must ask ourselves whether in future we need to do amendments to this Bill. First of all, we need to see how they will apply the Bill and whether it will open opportunities for acts of hooliganism. If it will open doors to hooliganism, then the Senate will have to rethink and see how an individual Member can be made to face the law once he or she commits a crime. Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir, in this Senate, we have looked at different issues in different ways. Today, we have the Speakers of county assemblies who can be impeached and threatened any time. As we pass this law, we also need to come up with a law that can protect the Speakers so that they do their work. Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir, the Constitution is very clear that Parliament shall enact a law on how Speakers of County Assemblies will do their work. Therefore, as you give county assemblies a Bill - the County Assemblies Powers and Privileges law - we must also think about the Speakers in those assemblies. I do not think we will want to see county assemblies being threatened because of Speakers being threatened. Mr. Speaker, Sir, I will give an example of the County Assembly of Isiolo. Currently, we have a very serious case of the Speaker of the County Assembly. The Speaker has taken some people to court. So, if we had a law that could guide the procedures, that county assembly would have managed their own affairs without rushing to court. 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"
}