Entry Instance

HTTP 200 OK
Allow: GET, PUT, PATCH, DELETE, HEAD, OPTIONS
Content-Type: application/json
Vary: Accept

{
    "id": 583957,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/583957/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 316,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "Sen. Okong’o",
    "speaker_title": "",
    "speaker": {
        "id": 948,
        "legal_name": "Kennedy Mong'are Okong'o",
        "slug": "kennedy-mongare-okongo"
    },
    "content": "Mr. Temporary Speaker, Sir, on the onset, I want to congratulate the proponent of this important Bill. As you are aware, counties cry for revenue. An institution like the county government printer can be a source of revenue. Lawyers, engineers, doctors and surveyors traverse from all the counties to come to the Government Press and they do not even get the documents they require. If this Bill is passed and is well institutionalized at the counties, it will be a huge source of revenue. The officers who will be charged to clear what is supposed to be printed once in five years during the election period, if they will be equipped with modern facilities, they could even print brochures and documents for politicians. It will be a huge source of revenue for counties. More often than not, we have seen the transmission of information from national Government to counties when the President wants to give a speech. In some cases, speeches would delay during national functions. Citizens of Kenya would wait for three to four hours waiting for a presidential speech. If we have such kind of Printer in this era of technology it is easier to trigger such messages. As we fight for devolution, we need our citizens in the county to access channels and information of Government. Issues from the Central Bureau of Statistics (CBS) and Ministry of Planning and Devolution must be availed for development. Mr. Temporary Speaker, Sir, it is important that we support this Bill. That is why even if people were saying this Senate ni nyumba ya wazee, we have young brilliant minds coupled with sages like you to guide us on the way forward to entrench devolution. That is why I commend my colleague and learned friend, Sen. Sang and his other friends at the Committee on Legal Affairs and Human Rights for coming up with these instrumental pieces of legislation to empower devolution. Three or four months ago, the President of the Republic of Kenya made an impromptu visit to the Government Press. He did not find the watchman at the gate or the receptionist. He just stumbled on some people idling. I do not know whether action was taken but the Government Printer as is constituted now, has been run down and become a way of corruption and a way of minting money in terms of who knows who. Mr. Temporary Speaker, Sir, it is important that as we entrench devolution, other institutions in the county assemblies, for instance, the County Public Accounts and Investment Committee (CPAIC) at the county assemblies can have facilities to use in their work. In the County Public Accounts and Investment Committee where I seat, governors come to Nairobi carrying documents which are not labeled and some photocopied poorly because they lack facilities like this. This Bill is timely and we need to work on it so that we decentralize some of these functions which came with the new Constitution, so that we can realize and entrench the foundations of the new Constitution. With those few remarks, I beg to support."
}