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{
    "id": 549432,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/549432/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 230,
    "type": "other",
    "speaker_name": "",
    "speaker_title": "",
    "speaker": null,
    "content": "Madam Temporary Speaker, there is the issue of inter-county relations. We, as Senators, are in charge of counties. At times, there are conflicts between communities in one county and another. Senators are called upon to mediate as leaders of those counties, but they have not been able to do that. Some terrains are very rough and you may even require helicopters to travel there. Sometimes we have been blamed for not talking to our communities in order to bring about cohesion and peace. Madam Temporary Speaker, we may discuss here and establish committees and commissions to facilitate the Senate, but the last decision as to how much money the Senate is going to get does not lie with the Senate. That is what I feel is lacking in the Constitution. All powers of allocating money to all Government institutions lie with the National Assembly. This is dangerous. The National Assembly can wake up one day and decide to allocate almost nothing to the Senate, and we will have no say. I believe that in the interim, these committees will be able to iron out issues, to ensure that the Senate gets its rightful share of the budget that is allocated to Parliament. But the final solution is the Constitution. The Senate of Kenya should be like any other Senate in other countries. The Senate should truly be an upper House; that is the final decision maker. This issue of passing Bills to and fro is time wasting and duplication. Sometimes it is unreasonable because it puts us in a situation where we seem to be competing and trying to prove who is more senior or has more say than the other, yet we are here as servants of the people. It is the high time that this duplication of roles is done away with by way of looking at the Constitution. Let us not look at who says we need to change the Constitution. Let us address the issues in the Constitution that we feel should be changed and we change them, without taking partisan positions. Madam Temporary Speaker, as we talk about the PSC, it is a requirement in the Constitution that there must be equality and equity everywhere. The practice of what was passed in the Constitution should begin from here. I would want to see a PSC that is transparent and will say that amongst its ranks of employees, from the top to the bottom, all communities have been represented in terms of employment. It should come out clearly. It should not be discretionary, because I believe that there could be some communities which do not have a single member of staff in this Parliament, yet we pride ourselves as a Parliament of the Republic of Kenya. It is high time that we ensure that there is inclusiveness. Madam Temporary Speaker, I support this Bill that seeks to strengthen the Senate, so that it can, indeed, be the representative of the counties. We have made attempts to ensure that the county leaders meet and discuss because fora are a requirement in the Constitution. We went the way of the development board. Unfortunately, that matter is pending in court and I do not want to discuss much about it. Nevertheless, the fact that we are prohibited from holding meetings to discuss development issues in the county is really inhibiting our functions. This has gone on for the last two years. We do not know whether it will ever be lifted, so that we can eventually call all leaders, including the governors and Members of Parliament because we sometimes feel as the representatives of the counties, if things go wrong we must call. However, we are now held back because of the restriction that has been issued arising from that court process. 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."
}