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{
    "id": 571053,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/571053/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 210,
    "type": "other",
    "speaker_name": "",
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    "speaker": null,
    "content": "Madam Temporary Speaker, in Nyamira County, for example, where I come from, all the MCAs are an appendage of the Governor. In the last two years, they have never stood firm in terms of following the due process. When I play my role of oversight to defend the interests of Nyamira County, people think that I am the enemy of the governor. Most of the MCAs receive their finances from the executive. That is why I feel that this Bill is very important, not only to the counties, but the whole nation. Madam Temporary Speaker, as my colleagues have alluded here, many Bills whose importance is in doubt, have been hurriedly passed in the counties, without due regard to the processes required. For instance, two months ago, the operations of Nyamira County came to a halt because they did not have the funds. The Governor of Nyamira County, therefore, wanted a supplementary budget. They had to look elsewhere for money. The governor told the MCAs that there was need for supplementary estimates to undertake his work. The chairman of the committee on budget in the county assembly stood his ground and said that there was no way money could be removed from the development vote to recurrent vote. I applauded that move. However, four days later, the same request was brought back to the assembly and passed in a record five minutes. A total of Kshs100 million meant to develop Nyamira was moved to recurrent expenditure through a supplementary budget. This happened because we have a lacuna in our legal system. That is why I strongly support this Bill. Madam Temporary Speaker, I have to address the MCAs of the County Assembly of Nyamira if they are watching these proceedings. I want them to now understand that whatever they are doing should be in the interest of the people of Nyamira and not individuals. My role and that of this Senate is to defend the governor to do his work rightfully. We have also to defend the MCAs by giving them a direct budget, so that they can receive their monies directly from the national Treasury. This will cure the malady of confusion and influences from the governors. Madam Temporary Speaker, the time has come that the few lacunas that we have in our legal system are dealt with so fast by the Senate. It is our responsibility to do so in the spirit of devolution. I am an independent person and will never be influenced by any individual as long as I stick to the process of the law. Therefore, this Bill needs to empower the county assemblies so that they are independent of the executive. We want them to perform their oversight role effectively. As we work from Nairobi, we expect the MCAs to also deal with difficult issues in a harmonious way. However, that cannot happen now because they can be starved of their finances. Madam Temporary Speaker, there is also distortion of information regarding the monies – the Kshs2.5 billion – given to the county assemblies. Even though the matter is in court, there was a distortion of the information that these monies were wrongly allocated. The Commission on Revenue Allocation (CRA) has misled Kenyans that we allocated that money to MCAs without regard to the provisions of law. This Senate played its role in passing that budget. Our work is to look at the lacuna regarding the monies allocated to the counties and rectify the situation accordingly. This is not the work of the CRA. If Mr. Cheserem, the Chairman of the CRA, is interested and feels that 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."
}