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{
    "id": 592419,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/592419/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 201,
    "type": "other",
    "speaker_name": "",
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    "content": "Development Plans (CIDPs). Otherwise, implementation cannot be right because you might be implementing wrong projects. The Governor might be busy spreading funds on wrong projects. Therefore, Senators must be involved at the conception of every project to ensure that those projects are of value to the communities that we represent. The Bill that was sponsored by Sen. Sang was supposed to correct that mischief by creating a County Development Board (CDB) which would bring all the leaders of the county and chaired by the Senator. The leaders would then discuss the needs and aspirations of the county. Once the designs have been conceptualized, the governors would then implement. However, governors in their own wisdom or lack of it went and killed that Bill. It is a tragedy for this country that the courts agreed with them. That was a very big blow to the Senate. Therefore, Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir, the Senate needs to be liberated from the dark forces if it has to play a meaningful role in the development of the counties. Under Article 96, the Senate has a role of protecting the interest of the counties. What interests are we talking about? How will a Senator know about the interests of counties that he or she represents if he or she cannot sit down with people and define the interest of the counties? Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir, we complained, from the beginning, that Senators are under- resourced. We are being treated like Constituency Members of Parliament (MPs). As I stand here, I represent nine constituencies in Meru County. However, the facilities that I am given by the Parliamentary Service Commission (PSC) are exactly the same I used to get when I was the MP for South Imenti Constituency. Even if you are the top surgeon in this country, you can never perform a successful operation unless you are given tools and an operation theatre. We have very competent Senators and great leaders but without tools with which they can perform tasks that they are supposed to do. Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir, we have tried to correct that anomaly through the Task Force which I chaired and of which you were a very able Member. We consulted and it was widely agreed, even by the Executive and the National Assembly, that a token support of Kshs1 billion which amounted to an average of Kshs24 million per county was sufficient for us to start consultative fora in counties to find out whether the wananchi are getting value for money from the enormous funds that are being transferred from the centre to the periphery. However, a disagreement between a few Members of the National Assembly killed that very important project. There is a suggestion that people who should be caring for the constituencies are the ones disempowering the Senate so that massive looting of funds continues unchecked. If that is the case, why would we have the subject of oversight? I think that is the mischief being corrected by this Report. What is the role of county assemblies in oversighting the national resources transferred to the counties? Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir, Members of County Assemblies (MCAs) are like boys running errands for governors. When you listen to meetings attended by MCAs nowadays, there is no difference with the old days during the Nyayo Era when a politician was meant to sing like a parrot. From morning to evening, you will find MCAs telling people what the governor has done and they would want people to clap for the governor. How can such an MCA be the one to oversight the governor? The reason why MCAs have become ineffective, as agents of oversight, is because they are depended on the governor for development in their wards. I am very happy to see that some counties have come up with ideas of the Ward Development Fund. This is because we transfer 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."
}