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{
    "id": 651435,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/651435/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 376,
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    "content": "However, we have seen some fellows who have been to universities and acquired very good academic papers but can hardly do anything. As a lawyer, I know some of our colleagues who have gone through university but cannot even construct a demand letter. When a client hires them to defend them in court, they accelerate the client’s going to jail because of their sheer incompetence. There are so many people like that. Mr. Temporary Speaker, Sir, if you are a governor with such a person as your deputy and the law obligates you to make him or her as your coordinator of functions of your executive. I can assure you that when hell breaks loose and when nothing works, nobody will notice the buffoon. Nobody will notice the failings or analyze the failing of the deputy governor. In fact, nobody will even analyze if the deputy governor was there or not. It is the governor who will bear the responsibility. There is a famous saying in the USA by former President Woodrow Wilson who said, “I am the President and the buck stops on my table”. That is exactly what the governor must be. Kenyans would be very angry with the President if he woke up and said that he is sorry a wrong decision was made, but it was not his fault. It was my deputy. People will ask him: “Are you not the President?” Therefore, that clause has no place in the governance of counties. We know that many of the current crop of governors are not doing a good job. However, we cannot fix the inability of a slow runner by tying their legs. We should encourage them because many of them will walk out through attrition. Some of them will be weeded out in the next elections. Earlier on, I mentioned the Senators who want to be governors and I know that they will succeed. Mr. Temporary Speaker, Sir, looking at Clause 5(b), there is another imposition on the discretion of the governor and his ability to maneuver freely and make his county government work by saying that the deputy governor shall coordinate service delivery in the county. That is a function of the governor. In fact, if I were a governor, the responsibility of coordinating functions and service delivery would be mine because I chair the executive. It does not make sense to transfer responsibility. At the end of five years if you seek re-election, you will be carrying your report card with all manner of excuses such as; I did not do this well because it was the duty or responsibility of the deputy, I failed to do this and so on. Nobody will believe you or accept that explanation. I encourage this House not to pass a law of this nature. It should reject these proposals. Mr. Temporary Speaker, Sir, for a very long time, I have been hearing Sen. Murkomen pontificating about this and how they want to insulate and protect deputy governors and make them to be felt, noticed and recognised. It is not the function of this House to insulate deputy governors. Insulate them against what and who? Protect them against whom? When you become the Governor for Nandi, a County where I partly grew up and come to visit, I want to meet a governor who has the capacity and ability to discharge his constitutional and legal functions without any fear or favour and will not stand up anywhere and give excuses that he has been let down because the person who is supposed to coordinate the functions has let him down. This way, we will be hitting a six inch nail in the progression of devolution. Article 6(2) of the Constitution on devolution and access to services states:- 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"
}