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{
    "id": 563624,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/563624/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 285,
    "type": "other",
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    "content": "the county assemblies so that the relevant county boards can interview the nominees will now know who bought their way through because the document is now very clear here. It states that there must be proper academic credentials provided, professional training of whatever kind, experience, personal integrity and background; all these have to be tabled. There is nowhere in this document which is seeking to know what tribe, clan or a region an individual comes from. Madam Temporary Speaker, we had forewarned that in future there would be a problem because the counties are becoming like employment bureaus where people from the same region employ themselves. If you attend a County Executive Committee (CEC) meeting – I do not know how often they hold them – they usually switch to their vernacular language and yet we are talking about ending tribalism in Kenya. We should have gone further to put a law stating that not more than a third of the CECs should come from one community. Although we know that the people of West Pokot are Pokots, what was the reason for devolving? Are we saying that experts who can run that government can only come from that region? No wonder we have absurd behaviour in the counties. If you go to Migori or Turkana counties, the CEC members are talking the same language. These laws and regulations should guide the MCAs that sit in these committees. Some of the MCAs have never worked anywhere before, but they are very popular in the wards. The criterion for being engaged as an MCA is just being very popular among your people. You can be very popular when you speak in your mother tongue without knowledge of English or Kiswahili language. The Constitution did not put a caveat to say that an individual must be learned to this extent. Therefore, the Senate has come in handy to prepare this document should the MCAs need it. Some of the Clerks in the county governments were former teachers who suddenly got those positions. Therefore, it is essential that we have these criteria, which include public participation, in place. Madam Temporary Speaker, should it happen that some people will be appointed who do not qualify, it is at that point that we shall pinpoint this anomaly. This is the same way the National Assembly has been handling the vetting cases. This Bill will assist us to normalize some of those issues. I do not know what we are going to do with the excess personnel from one community. Maybe, Nairobi is a leading example of the highest number of ethnic communities and the peri-urban ones like Nakuru and the rest. However, if you go to those counties in the interior part of the country, things are chaotic. Some of these laws should be processed so that they become a guiding principle for our people to manage and run them. When we talk about experience, it is experience in the relevant field. Today we have people in charge of finance in the counties who have no experience and yet they are supposed to be executing financial matters. That is why, at the end of the financial year, they misuse money that is remaining in the county treasury because they do not have the professional qualifications to handle finance matters. These are some of the issues that will be unearthed when an audit is done. 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."
}