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"id": 516048,
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"content": "wonder how on earth one person can manage to attend to ten events within one day. So, most of these things are done without us knowing. They know that the moment they include the name of an elected leader, he will be compelled to either come or send somebody. It is rarely the case, that our people will sometimes ask where that person gets all this money. They saw that he was on the card of a such and such a church, school, dispensary and irrigation project in the same constituency, same county and same day, and you are expected to attend to all of them. This has put tremendous pressure on political leaders in this country. Some have even had to take bank loans to manage harambees. One of the fundamental differences between a legislator in Kenya and another in other countries is that in many parts of the world, a legislator is very accessible person. It is very easy to access your Member of Parliament, Governor, Senator and Member of County Assembly (MCA) in Canada, Philippines and many parts of the world. It is not like here where it has become a bit difficult and challenging. I will explain why it is easy in other parts of the world to see one’s representative than it is the case here in our country. The reason is simple; that in such countries, the public understands the role of legislators very carefully and appropriately, namely:- (1) To represent the interest of the constituencies they represent, to fight for those interests and to lobby and push for those interests. (2) To make laws and legislate on things that can transform the lives, businesses, property and interests of the people that they represent. (3) To act as public watchdogs over the Executive. That is the role of a legislator, period. So, the reason somebody would want to see their Member of Parliament in Canada or Belgium would be: Since they represent a community of farmers and the prices of dairy products are going down day by day, they believe that if Government reduces certain taxes on dairy products, either processed or semi-processed, they will be able to get better prices for their products and likely therefore to improve their economic wellbeing as a sector of dairy farmers. If that is the only reason that someone wanted to see you over, the legislator would be more than happy to meet those people even at night in a restaurant or anywhere else. This is because of two reasons. One, the reason you are elected is to help these people achieve those objectives. Secondly, and more importantly, there is self interest in that because by helping me come up with legislation and policy interventions that help the general public, you are helping me to be a more effective leader and representative of the people. Mr. Temporary Speaker, Sir, in our case here, 95 percent of Kenyans would want to see their Members of Parliament, Governors or MCAs, not about the state of infrastructure in the county, livestock farming, or the price of cereals. They want to see them, because they have taken a loan from bank “X”, and they are unable to repay the loan. They want you to help them repay the loan either by organizing a harambee or getting the money from the pocket to help them repay a bank loan. That is total absurdity. How on earth, as philanthropic as one may be, how do they expect one person through 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."
}