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{
    "id": 549392,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/549392/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 190,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "Sen. Ongoro",
    "speaker_title": "",
    "speaker": {
        "id": 125,
        "legal_name": "Elizabeth Ongoro Masha",
        "slug": "elizabeth-ongoro"
    },
    "content": "Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir, I rise to support this Bill. I will not repeat the good points that have been brought forth in support. I want to remind us to consider the role of Parliament as enshrined in the Constitution under Article 94, with specific reference to Article 94(1) and (4) bearing in mind the fact that the Senate constitutes Parliament as the “Upper” House. The role of Senate is to legislate by debating and approving Bills concerning counties. This is provided in Articles 109. If you consider that, together with specific role of the Senate as enshrined in Article 96, especially Article 96(1)(3) and (4). For the avoidance of doubt, let me just read Article 96(1) which states:- “The Senate represents the counties and serves to protect the interests of the counties and their governments.” Article 96(3) states:- “The Senate determines the allocation of national revenue among counties as provided in Article 217, and exercises oversight over national revenue allocated to the county governments.” If you have to consider those two functions and come back to this Senate, and consider the facilitation accorded individual Senators, then you will know whether we are serious with devolution or not. The Constitution states specifically that we are over sighting counties. These 47 Senators plus the 18 nominated Senators are not over sighting individual counties. We expect Sen. Musila while over sighting the functions of his county to also have an in depth analysis and understanding of the running of all the other 46 counties in this country. When he stands here to give any point in relation to over sighting counties, his pronouncements affects all the 47 counties. For him to then undertake that kind of extensive mandate, we expect him to have technocrats around him. You cannot expect Senators who have the sole responsibility of ensuring that devolution takes root, counties get adequate funding and ensuring that the funds allocated to these counties are well utilized, not to have the structures of oversight. This effort of bringing devolution, the 47 counties and of decentralizing funds to the grassroots level if not over sighted, then we are not doing anything. Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir, without facilitation and the technical team around these Senators, you expect any Senator at any one time, to turn himself into an auditor or an accountant to interrogate books of accounts from any county brought to the committee or of his own county. They have to turn themselves from time to time to a civil engineer, an architect or an environmentalist. He has to interrogate all matters pertaining to the counties. He must be an agricultural specialist and be involved in all functions that have been devolved to the counties, including medical services, agriculture and all the major functions that are the bedrock of the economy of this country. It is only reasonable for this country to see the need to facilitate Senators. These Senators need facilitation. Not just in terms of the technocrats around them, but they need a whole array of facilitation. 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."
}