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{
    "id": 571341,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/571341/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 229,
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    "content": "it does not limit itself to the counties that were disadvantaged from the beginning. It is not just about Tharaka-Nithi, Nyandarua and Lamu counties. It has brought on board all the other counties for a good reason. If you go round the counties, you will realize we do not even have a uniform look of the headquarters, especially the debating chambers. As you know, they were used before by the councils. I am not saying that they were not sufficient, but we are dealing with a different kind of government right now and we have very serious legislatures in the counties that need befitting infrastructure to support the work that they are doing. As has been said by Sen. (Prof.) Anyang’-Nyong’o, going round the counties will enable us to get a homogenous way of putting up infrastructure. For example, when you visit parliaments across the world, there is the unwritten rule that there should be a table to hold the mace and communication gadgets. Considering that we are also growing, the Information, Communications and Technology (ICT) sector is dynamic. We are at a point in time where debating is not just about having seats. There are some standards that we have to adhere to. So, I hope that this Committee will give us a standard model of how this should be done, especially for the assemblies. We need to have a standard of how the assemblies should be designed. We are the first government to implement a Constitution which entails devolution. We will continue to do this for years to come. We must do it for prosperity and the children who will come after us. We should look back 20 or 50 years down the line and see that we did a good job. The other thing that this Committee should do, and I have seen it in many counties as we do our work of going round the counties in our evaluation; the Constitution provides for representation of people with disabilities in the counties to sit in the assemblies and also to be appointed to positions in the executive. Therefore, we must make sure that this Committee will look at the counties where there is a deficiency. We have seen counties where people on wheel chairs have a problem accessing the premises. This is not just in the counties, you will be surprised that even here in this Parliament, one time we had a meeting at room five. It is a pity that we had to get men to carry Sen. Omondi up the stairs for that meeting because there is no ramp. Mr. Temporary Speaker, Sir, this Committee should ensure that they evaluate this and adhere to the international expectations and standards for people with disabilities. They must be able to access every part of that premise. So, as they report back to the House, we should know that not only do we have an infrastructure in a county, for example, Murang’a and Nakuru, but such infrastructure should be compliant with the international requirements for people with disabilities. This issue has been canvassed even before by the Transition Authority (TA). There is always the opinion that this was a transitional time. In the County Public Accounts and Investments Committee where Sen. Muriuki sits, as we evaluate the audit report, we have had experience where we have losses of assets in the transition period. There was supposed to be an evaluation by the TA of finding out what exactly belonged to the defunct county councils. That is still not yet done. In that confusion, some people have taken advantage and enriched themselves with land, buildings and other assets. This 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."
}