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{
    "id": 659036,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/659036/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 531,
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    "content": "One of the things that we should do with the MCAs is to take stock of devolution to date. What, for example, have county assemblies accomplished in terms of law making? You know that the Fourth Schedule of the Constitution gives the counties specific functions. Those functions are not performed in a legal vacuum. They are performed in the context of law making in counties. For example, there is the issue of how to improve revenue collection in counties. One example of counties with cities, towns and municipalities like Kisumu County, is collecting revenue from outdoor advertisement. It will be important for counties to come up with innovative ways of collecting revenue from outdoor advertisement. Secondly, there is the issue of waste management. Counties have tried all kinds of ways to deal with waste management unsuccessfully. They should not keep on trying to reinvent the wheel when there are known methods of doing so, provided those methods are domesticated in our municipalities and cities. The other issue that would be important in our discussion with counties is the Senate to also present to counties a balance sheet of what we, in the Senate, have been doing. One very important issue is transparency and accountability. There is a perception being developed that when county assemblies and county executives appear before relevant committees, particularly the Committee on Public Accounts and Investments, it is a punitive expedition. It is only a punitive expedition if, indeed, there has been an abrogation on the part of the assemblies and the executives of using and accounting for public funds, that the accountability that is envisaged in appearing before these committees is just to make sure that these arms of devolution do their work properly and that public funds are properly used. Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir, I think if we plan carefully for this conference, it will be very productive where we will get a balance sheet of what we are doing. Secondly, we will get to know some of the issues that are facing us in devolution. Three, we will lay an agenda for the future. Let us not have a conference where on the last week, a programme is issued which tells me: “Sen. (Prof.) Anyang'-Nyong'o, you are on this panel.” Being in a panel is no longer exciting to me. What excites me is what I do in that panel. Does being in that panel make a difference to devolution and the way public funds are used in this country? Therefore, I am appealing to the leadership of both sides of this House, the Speaker’s Office and the Clerk’s Office, if indeed, this House will have a conference with county assemblies and so on, preparation and content is very important. Let us not have a mere show. At this point in our lives, we are not interested in showmanship or show- womanship. We are interested in contributing to the future of this country in a meaningful and constructive way. I beg to support."
}