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{
    "id": 624253,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/624253/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 280,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "Hon. Ogolla",
    "speaker_title": "",
    "speaker": {
        "id": 1264,
        "legal_name": "Gideon Ochanda Ogolla",
        "slug": "gideon-ochanda-ogolla"
    },
    "content": "I want to believe and say that TA has not worked very well. It has really worked dismally in terms of what it was supposed to do over the period of time. We have seen either covertly or overtly, that they have problems and challenges. That aside, there are certain things they were supposed to do that they have not done very well. We have seen their powers usurped in the beginning of the first year, where the Presidency clearly declared the staggered transfer of functions. All the counties ended up with massive functions that they were not ready for. There was no capacity support. The Constitution clearly provides that the national Government was supposed to extend capacity support to all the counties before the functions were transferred. The authority that was responsible was the Transition Authority. In the beginning, instead of looking at this in terms of capacity support, the TA ended up either seconding or allowing transfer of staff from various departments to the county governments. One instance was the transfer of District Commissioners and secretaries to those county governments. This ended up messing the county governments. The county government started on a wrong foot because of the TA. To date, many county governments are struggling with massive functions that had they been staggered, would not have resulted in the situation we are currently witnessing. We have struggled with issues of health and education. County governments are not very clear on whether to employ teachers trained in Early Childhood Education (ECD). An ECD trained teacher is not necessarily one for baby-class or nursery. They are qualified to teach up to Standard Three. Looking at that in relation to what is currently happening in schools, ECD arrangements are done by the county governments where they recruit teachers and pay them without considering any standards. This is supposed to be done by the Teachers Service Commission (TSC). The mix up in the counties is largely related to the functions of TA. They have not fulfilled their functions very well. Looking at it in terms of where we are going and what remains to be done, I am not convinced that the arrangement the Committee is suggesting can adequately cater for what remains to be done. The arrangement that would work is to re-assign those functions to an independent agency that can carry on with the independent work of TA. That would require that we go through the long process of amending the Constitution since the tenure of TA has ended. There is a lot of work to be done; a lot of it touching on the assets. We have a bad history in the handling of public assets. We have a very bad history of intergovernmental arrangements. The electronic version of the Official Hansard Report is for information purposesonly. A certified version of this Report can be obtained from the Hansard Editor."
}