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"content": "Mr. Temporary Speaker, Sir, when the distinguished Senator for West Pokot gets to his county, he has a responsibility to run through the five constituencies with very difficult terrain. There could be rains in the hills, kilometres away, causing floods where there is no rain and people are swept away and he has to go and see what is happening. There could be a banditry attack and as a Senator, together with other leaders, he has to go and pacify communities. There have been quite many and we have lost count. There will be situations where the Senator is required to be serving people in a county like Marsabit which is bigger than the former Western Province, Nyanza Province and Central Province put together. Mr. Temporary Speaker, Sir, in Canada, where I have had the privilege to visit in my previous capacities, there is a constituency called the Northern Territories which covers Lake Hansford all the way to the border with Alaska and the Tundra region. The Senator, who represents that region, is facilitated by the Senate by way of availing, on request, a helicopter to take him to the territory, to carry out his responsibilities as a Senator. Obviously, if the Senator for Marsabit today put a request to the PSC for a helicopter to go and visit his county, they will laugh and tell him off. He will be reminded that this is a luxury that is not available. Yet if you are going to move from Loyangalani to Moyale by road, first, there is no road, then there is insecurity. By the time you reach one end of the county from the other, it is, probably, two weeks and the car you had is seriously damaged because of the terrain. We will expect that at some point, like I remember recently when the Committee on National Security and Foreign Relations in which I sit, wanted to visit Mandera and Kapedo after the banditry attack, the trips were postponed three times simply because the facilitation for aerial transport to visit these areas could not be available. If we have our own committee of the PSC, it will be understanding and more responsive to these emergency needs that the Senate is supposed to perform. Remember that we have said in the Rules and Business Committee (RBC) that this Senate is not an inordinately large House, we can decide as a House to go and conduct a two week sitting in Kisumu County, in Meru County, in Bungoma County, in West Pokot County or anywhere. You need your autonomy to do this because when you place your request to the PSC, the first thing you will be told is that this is a luxury that you can ill afford. Mr. Temporary Speaker, Sir, serving the people of Kenya cannot be a luxury, but it is a legitimate expectation that they are entitled to under the Constitution. The committee will also make recommendations to the PSC on interventions targeting specific issues relating to the respective Houses. This Senate has been extremely selfless and decent. Mr. Temporary Speaker, Sir, we have refused to be drawn into arguments about the Constituencies Development Fund (CDF) until the High Court brought it to our door step. Now, our colleagues in the National Assembly know that without the concurrence and participation of the Senate, any change of law relating to the CDF will not come. I want to advise the Senate for free, that if the CDF is a fund available to Members of Parliament (MPs), MPs mean and include the Senators. So, if the national Government is 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."
}