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{
    "id": 594149,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/594149/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 314,
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    "content": "Of course that is wrong and it is not the law. You will hear others saying they will renew, others saying they will not renew. The whole debate is a political debate devoid of the provisions of the Constitution and the law. Therefore, this Bill will help our counties to obtain the right legal advice. We hope that with the passage of this Bill, we will ensure that our counties are run professionally. If you look at the appointment process, it is the governor who appoints and then the person must be approved by the county assembly. This is to ensure we get the right people to these offices. Mr. Temporary Speaker, Sir, however, if you look at some of the provisions they state:- “No county government entity shall engage the services of a consultant on matters legal without the approval of the County Attorney”. This is important because some of the governors, when given legal advice by either their legal advisers or even the County Attorneys, if they are not happy with the kind of advise that they are given, they will go out there, solicit for a lawyer or a legal consultant, give them instructions and ensure they return whatever decision or position they want. Mr. Temporary Speaker, Sir, with this law, we are saying that any engagement of a consultant on legal matters must be approved by the County Attorney. This will ensure that we are able to curb the potential mischief where people will be able to shop for the legal advice that they want. If the County Attorney cannot give them that particular legal advice, they go out there shopping for one. Therefore, that is important and it is captured within the law. On the issue of qualifications, I think some amendments will come into this. We are providing for five years experience but I think in subsequent amendments that we will bring before this House, we will want to raise that so that we have a very immensely qualified person to man and run this office. Mr. Temporary Speaker, Sir, we hope that our county governments will realize that they are running not just political entities in the name of counties but that these entities are governed by the Constitution and the law. We do not have to see the kind of funny dealings that are going on within the counties, where you have governors awarding themselves tenders, county assemblies awarding themselves tenders and circumlocuting some of the provisions of The Public Procurement Act to avoid some of these loopholes. We hope that the establishment of this office will help us ensure that our counties are professionally run, more particularly with regard to legal advice. Absurd things are happening in the counties, where we have seen in Busia, Kakamega and Nandi counties, people resorting to outright theft of public resources."
}