{"id":584326,"url":"http://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/584326/?format=json","text_counter":334,"type":"other","speaker_name":"","speaker_title":"","speaker":null,"content":"There is corruption, nepotism, theft of public resources and poor services in the counties. For example, drugs have been procured but still members of the public in hospitals are told to go and procure them. The public have had a problem, but this method of petitioning the county assemblies will go a long way in assisting. Mr. Temporary Speaker, Sir, while I thank the Committee for drafting this Bill, there are a few areas that should be considered at the Committee Stage; possibly for amendment or inclusion. It is important that when a petition is made; when it goes to the county assembly, there should be an opening that the same can be copied to any other office that the petitioner deems relevant, particularly to the Senate. At the Senate, there should be an office or a unit dedicated to keeping records of all the petitions that have been received in the county assemblies for purposes of follow up by the Committee on Implementation. This will ensure that the Committee on Implementation keeps a tab on all the petitions that have been received in this country in the various counties and follow up to ensure that they are properly addressed. I believe that there should be a provision whereby the executive is compelled by this Act to provide any document or information that will enable the county assembly to respond appropriately to the petition. I am saying so because in most counties, it is very difficult even for a Member of the County Assembly (MCA) and the office of a Senator to obtain any information. Many executive officers in counties have been instructed not to divulge any information to anybody. This is the case in my county. In addition, the Controller of Budget and the Auditor-General are denied access to information and evidence to be able to provide a report and give comments on financial accounts. I do not want to go into details on that. Generally, there is a trend that county governments, particularly the executive, consider public information to be their property that should not be divulged even to the county assemblies. A clause should be introduced to state that, any public officer in a county or any person must provide information to the county assembly when required to do so. With those few remarks, I beg to support."}