Entry Instance

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

{
    "id": 591484,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/591484/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 207,
    "type": "other",
    "speaker_name": "",
    "speaker_title": "",
    "speaker": null,
    "content": "Senate and that she was going to embark on a mission of checking its role. It is a tragedy of the highest order. Madam Temporary Speaker, the way the county governments are constituted, requires effective oversight so that the taxpayers’ money can be effectively used. As most of the Senators have alluded to, the wastage and the drain of the resources of the people of Kenya, is too high. It is very important that when we move forward on this path, men and women who will state the course will be charged by history to have been nationalists for the course of this country. The county assemblies as constituted composed of Members who do not have the highest calibre to oversight the governors. For instance, where I come from, the Governor of Nyamira County suspended several County Executive Committee members. The same county assembly which had recommended the suspension, failed to do their role effectively giving the Governor a leeway to sack them. They were compromised mid way. These are issues which require an effective oversight, especially from the Senate. Madam Temporary Speaker, some of these governors have set aside huge sums of money for their legal teams. The Sang Bill went down the drain because we were not effectively represented at the time of need. Men and women who sat in this Select Committee have done their part. It is important and incumbent upon us to play our part in a bipartisan manner. More often than not, we have stood together, but when we are whipped on party lines, we lose our track. I believe with these recommendations, all of us in this House will have to create room and prepare our pages in history that we embarked to have an effective Senate. There are those I call centrists who believe in the old yesteryears of the status quo. We fought for moneys to go to the counties. We understand the bureaucratic bottlenecks used by the centrists. It is this House which acts like a father who goes out to look for ‘food’, which is then taken back to the counties. This can only be possible if we are well entrenched in those stipulated amendments Constitution so that we can move forward. When the governors refused to honour summons by the Senate, it took us eight months haggling in the courts. The courts made the right decision. We are now scrutinizing accounts of 2013/2014 in the Public Accounts Committee. We could have done so, eight months ago. When Kenyans were campaigning for this Constitution, we did not conduct civic education. Sometimes when I am at home, I play the role of Member of the County Assembly (MCA), a Member of National Assembly or a governor because Kenyan citizens do not understand the role of a Senator. The role of a Senator is to oversight. With this constitutional Amendment, this House will be a House which resembles other contemporary Senate Houses in the world. For example, in Philippines, United States of America and Russia, the Senators are given tools of trade. Senators are not fighting for powers for the sake of it. We need tools to do our oversight role. As I said earlier, county governments will not exist without the Senate. I call upon Kenyans who are listening and watching to support us on this tough task ahead of us. I support."
}