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{
    "id": 591461,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/591461/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 184,
    "type": "other",
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    "content": "the “Yes” group. We passed it with the hope that we will amend it and address some of the challenges that would later affect Kenyans. Madam Temporary Speaker, as I speak, we have suggestions that the Select Committee on Constitutional and Legal Review has brought here. This document was laid on the Table of the Senate on 23rd September, 2015. Today, you can already read in the newspapers the stress that Kenyans are going through as a result of the huge expenditure and shortage of funds that we are seeing, so much so that this document that we are presenting here is very current. There are newer problems that have come up on top of this. It means that there is no other time that we can address some of these issues that have arisen as a result of the implementation of the Constitution. The Select Committee that composed of eminent Senators has already gone ahead and given us some recommendations of what should be addressed or amended in the Constitution for the good of Kenyans. It does not mean that Kenyans will entirely agree to the suggested amendments. They may add that we do certain things that some Members are suggesting here. For example, when we went to the Referendum and passed this Constitution, we jumped very high from one central Government system to 47 plus one units of payments; 47 counties; 47 Senators, 47 Women Representatives and 47 governors. Because of the faith that Kenyans have in themselves, they hoped that their problems would be simplified 47 times. Two-and-a-half years later, we see drama germinating daily as a result of these units. Madam Temporary Speaker, for the very first time two days ago, I visited my county together with the Select Committee on Infrastructure headed by Sen. (Eng.) Muriuki and Sen. Adan as the Vice-Chairperson. The most dramatic thing that we found is a man sitting as the governor in my county, who is today bigger than anything I have ever come across. When we asked whether this county requires any more support so that they have enough infrastructure as envisaged in devolution, he said that where the governor sits must be decent, almost a mini Office of the President. The county assembly must be a very decent place supported by the national Government because they are the ones who created it and it is a mini Parliament. He said: “I am sufficiently funded.” Remember he gets only Kshs4 billion that passed through the Senate as a result of my representation here. He said, “I do not need this Select Committee in my office. So, I do not need the Kshs700 million proposed for those two functions.” He pointed and showed us eight small houses that have been built for Agriculture, National Treasury, and Education and so on. So, we have several problems that you wonder whether that is what the Constitution that we created was supposed to bring. It was to bring development and a future for Kenya. For those of us who went to Europe to study, if you look at the houses that were built in 1914s and 1918s, they are still as intact as they were. The people who sat down to plan did their job well. Madam Temporary Speaker, the Constitution that we have is not cast in stone. I am not a lawyer but they say that we are not made for the law; the law is made for us. It means that we are the ones who can read it and are supposed to amend it for our good. Our colleagues in the National Assembly will also look at what we have proposed to Kenyans through the amendments here. For the very first time when Sen. Orengo spoke, he mentioned that what is presented here is not the Coalition for Reforms and Democracy 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."
}