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{
    "id": 567505,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/567505/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 530,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "Hon. Ogolla",
    "speaker_title": "",
    "speaker": {
        "id": 1264,
        "legal_name": "Gideon Ochanda Ogolla",
        "slug": "gideon-ochanda-ogolla"
    },
    "content": "The commissions have failed in many respects. This is the case and yet they are independent and attract specialised skills. If you look at how these commissions are operating--- We might draw lessons from how Secondary Schools are run. Many of these commissions do not separate the role of commissioners and that of the secretariats. If you get into each of these commissions, you will realise that a commissioner is in charge of finance, supervision, education and so on. So, they have the tendency of supervising the secretariat. We have a big problem in distinguishing the role the commissioners are supposed to play and that of their secretariat. Look at the Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission. We have a litany of failures in terms of personalities and commissioners who have headed this Commission. The biggest problem is when we have a commissioner heading departments within the commission instead of coming up with policies. Commissioners are not supposed to be involved in day to day running commissions. This is where the biggest problem is. So, there is constant conflict between commissioners and secretariats. As a country, we have missed out on the specialised attention and skills that we require to fight corruption. I do not think that this Bill will take us anywhere. We should go back to the traditional departments as we knew them, whether they are failing or not rather than creating some of these commissions the way we are doing. It is important, in my view, that we look at numbers. Definitely, there are areas where numbers help. If you were to influence or corrupt the numbers, sometimes it is better the bigger the numbers. I would have even talked about nine commissioners as stipulated in the Constitution. This is because the more you are even in committees, the easier it is for them to be with some level of independence. You have internal checks and one can easily influence a small group and decisions are just passed. The three commissioners we are talking to me are few. If we must have these commissioners, then the number, in my view, needs to be increased. The budgets for these commissions are colossal. This is compared to their output. We need to look at this seriously. This is more so now that we have failures in what could be the fourth arm of the Government in the name of commissions. As a country, we have to re-look at this and come up with ways of improving our lives rather than going the direction of commissions all the time. Thank you."
}