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{
    "id": 548334,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/548334/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 314,
    "type": "other",
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    "content": "projects, they do not understand. The question is: As the Senator for Machakos County, Senator for Siaya County or the Senator for Kiambu County, can we not be funded at least to open constituency offices because it is extremely difficult for us? I live in Machakos and I have people coming from Masinga which is 115 kilometers to Machakos. Those people are expected to go and see their Senator and present their needs. We are torturing the people who elected us. They woke up very early in the morning to go and vote for us but they do not see the benefits of electing us. I have one car just as a Member of the National Assembly, yet I am supposed to go round eight constituencies. I have to fuel that car with the same amount of money that is allocated to a Member of the National Assembly. The mileage claim is based on the distance between my home and the office here which is about 68 kilometers. However, I need to cover between 250 to 300 kilometers every weekend and nobody is compensating me for that. Madam Temporary Speaker, Sen. Keter said here that he was told by his father that to be elected as a people’s representative is a way of becoming a poor person. It is true and I believe in that theory. In 1992, President Moi wanted me to vie and represent the people of Kangundo then but I said “No” because I was scared. I did not want to get into what would turn me into a poor person. In 1997, President Moi requested me again to vie but I said “No”. Sen. Orengo is here and can attest that if I had vied for Kangundo Constituency in 2002, I would have won with a landslide, but I said that I would not vie because I did not want to be poor. I had to work first. I delayed and denied the people who told me that I qualified to represent them a chance. I waited so as not to get into leadership to be poor. Madam Temporary Speaker, today, not a single Senator here, even the nominated ones---. You are a politician yourself. You vied here in Nairobi and would still want to vie. You were nominated because of the people who voted for you in Nairobi and you would want to maintain that tempo. However, when you look at what is being allocated to you – and we are not asking for a salary increment – it is absolutely impossible for you to perform. If the Constitution says that the Senate represents the counties and serves to protect the interests of the counties and their governments; how will Sen. Orengo tour the whole of Siaya County in his single vehicle?"
}