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{
    "id": 571361,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/571361/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 249,
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    "speaker": null,
    "content": "Mr. Temporary Speaker, Sir, it is unfortunate that when you go to the various counties and interact with brother or sister committees and you listen to the sort of discourse that is coming about issues and they are saying that we expect the Senate to do the following and we want to capacity build them but it is not the Senate that will do that, it is the Members of the County Assemblies (MCAs) who are meant to have the powers to oversight the governor, look at the budget and find out where the money has gone to and how it has been used and report about it. There is a lot that is still missing. That capacity will not come from the sky, it will come through if we follow what the Motion is proposing by making sure that county governments are allocated offices and premises that will enable those Members to do their work. Mr. Temporary Speaker, Sir, most of us spend a lot of time in our work places up to 80 per cent. We cannot be productive in an environment that is not suitable. We keep on asking questions about what county governments should have achieved and why they have not done it. The reason is under our nose, that this very important component should have been sorted out. Mr. Temporary Speaker, Sir, two-and-half years later, if it has not been sorted out as we have noted, it is very important that it is acted upon. I think that it is urgent that the select committee is established. The Members of the proposed Committee are up to the task. Those that have been listed and specifically adding the two Senators to this list is very critical. Let us bring the wealth of their understanding in situation; let us benefit from their experiences of their study tours in Australia, India, South Africa and Canada. These two Members, if this amendment is approved, can come to the fore to create the sort of environment that is needed. Mr. Temporary Speaker, Sir, Kshs150 million was already allocated for this particular process. That means something somewhere went drastically wrong. We need this select committee to go back and re-evaluate what happened. That becomes very critical for us so that they can move within the particular space. Our due responsibility and role as Senate is to protect the interest of the counties. I think this is one of the ways in which we can do so. A sort of evaluation and mapping across each of the 47 counties in terms of establishing what their needs are is going to be critical. I suggest that for this team to be effective, we need very well equipped personnel, in terms of human resources. I would propose some grouping so that different people go to the 47 counties and do assessment. The groupings should cover the entire region for the select committee to quickly go into the counties and do the mapping or seek the cooperation of the county governments’ leaderships so that this process is seamless. They should also inform them in advance what they will do so that they can expedite their work. We need to find out these particular areas and processes that are needed. We should table the processes and make proposals about how to fill these resources. I think it will be nice for the Select Committee to come up with a timeframe, so that we can map out to what extent we expect the deliverables to be done. I do not think that it is going to be any mean task. It is going to be a difficult task, but one that will help us to fulfill one of our responsibilities; taking care of the interests of the counties, so 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."
}