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"content": "non-entities, you can see that today, they talk the way they want; they talk down on very experienced people--- This afternoon, we have just heard what is happening to my elder brother, Sen. Murungi, a distinguished Kenyan who has served this country for many years in very senior capacities. However, all of a sudden, because he is a Senator and not a governor, he is almost getting immobilized and he cannot function because power has gone to the head of some fellow somewhere. The resources of the county are being used to harass and intimidate the leadership and that is happening in each and every county in this country. We must, as much as we argue for more resources to go to the counties, find a way of taming corruption, theft, robbery and banditry in our counties. Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir, finally, if this country is to stabilize in the long-term, even as we come to the end of the first cycle of implementing devolution which will end next year after the first five years, we must start thinking about reorganizing our constitutional architecture in the long-term. I know, in this country, we have had a debate on amendments of the Constitution. Many Kenyans, including leaders who sit on my side of the House, believe we will have to amend the Constitution at some point. The only difference of opinion we have had is on the timing of that referendum. Whether we like it or not, we have to redefine and retune our Constitution with the benefit of hindsight to protect devolution, among other things. As I conclude, this is what I want to say, in terms of where we will go from here. The problem we have in counties today, because it is almost bringing the country to a halt---. You saw what county resources did to the Senate Minority Leader in this House; a senior Kenyan, former Minister for Foreign Affairs, a presidential candidate and a parliamentarian of 20 years standing. Despite all that, the small boy working within the systems using facilitation and resources coming from mostly unlawful sources actually brought pandemonium in such an important occasion when my brother was launching his presidential bid. That was simply because the infrastructure is there. For the way forward, the problem we are having is ideological and it is in the Constitution. When you concentrate both political and economic decision making power in one person or office; that is a recipe for disaster. When we amend the Constitution – because it is not a question of if but when and the time is coming and it is not far – we must separate political power from economic power, so that governors do not have both political and economic power in terms of decision-making. That can be decentralised. You can have other organs within the county because, for example, at the national level, we have Cabinet Secretaries (CSs) and they have a lot of decision-making power. However, the economic and accounting powers are with the Principal Secretaries (PSs). So, we must strengthen other offices and structures in the county level. We should create a committee or an office that is more powerful in terms of decision-making. The Committee should be separated and immunised from the control of governors. However, when you look at the County Governments Act and the way the Constitution is, you will see that the governor controls almost everything. He is in charge of decision-making mechanisms. Therefore, the silver bullet that will cure the corruption that we see and the run-away banditry will be to dismantle the power arrangement and create alternative centres of power in the counties. 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"
}