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{
    "id": 553105,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/553105/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 308,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "Sen. (Prof.) Anyang’-Nyong’o",
    "speaker_title": "",
    "speaker": {
        "id": 193,
        "legal_name": "Peter Anyang' Nyong'o",
        "slug": "peter-nyongo"
    },
    "content": "Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir, I just wanted to speak very briefly on this issue. I am the Chairman of the petitions sub-committee of the Committee on Finance, Commerce and Budget and we have realized that we are going to get more and more of these petitions, the reason being that there seems to be no understanding in counties that these are governments just like the national Government. In this Senate, we come from various parties and coalitions but when we make decisions about counties, we do so in the interest of those counties where the people of Kenya live. It looks as if some counties, when it comes to making use of public resources, public officials begin taking into account political sympathies or affiliations, which is completely undemocratic because all these people are taxpayers. Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir, I want to propose that we should look at possibilities as quickly as possible of making sure that Ombudsman’s offices are in every county so that when things like these happen, residents have an office they can run to, to complain about the conduct of public officials. This may help mitigate this tendency in counties of people getting punished because of their political views, support for governor or ward representatives, or lack of support therein. Therefore, one of the things we should consider is to have the Ombudsman’s offices located in all counties so that people can have a place to run to. More importantly, as you can see, these petitions are increasing. The Parliamentary Service Commission (PSC) should really think very seriously about capacity building or having special services to support petitions. For example, I am currently handling two petitions; one from Kisumu and another from Vihiga. I have realised that the staff that we have lack the capacity to help us handle these petitions expeditiously. So, we may find that these petitions, for them to come, we need to send a quick fact finding mission on the ground, not the Senators themselves but maybe civil servants from the Senate who will go and establish the facts like Sen. Orengo said and verify what is on the ground so that it shortens the time of listening to these petitions. Sometimes, certain facts can be exaggerated or understated but if you have a quick 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."
}