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"id": 659069,
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"content": "theft, plunder and robbery. The story of corruption as has been told so eloquently here by my brother, Sen. Wetangula, is reflected in Tana River, Nandi, Bungoma, Tharaka-Nithi, Nairobi and many other counties. Mr. Temporary Speaker, Sir, we are watching helplessly as people plunder our counties in broad day light. I, therefore, join my brother, Sen. Wetangula, in asking: “Where are the institutions of governance?” Most of those institutions are independent. Therefore, they are supposed to work without the direction, control or manipulation by any person in authority. I am shocked that until now, with all the horror stories of theft and corruption, no person has been found culpable. We cannot continue like this as a nation. Time has come when one way or the other something has to give way. It is only corruption that can give way. We cannot say integrity will give way. We cannot say we lose hope in our country. We do not have any other country. I have said it here before - this is my sincere and honest belief - that devolution is the remaining card that we can play to bring sanity and a sense of belonging in this country. If we lose this card, we might as well have to forget about the future of our country. Mr. Temporary Speaker, Sir, my county, Tharaka-Nithi and a few other counties have been pleading with this House for support. We have no facility whatsoever. If the same county that we have been struggling to convince this House to be magnanimous to can spend Kshs22 million to fund the fancies and fantasies of people who have lost it to ego and a false sense of importance, then it defeats logic for me to come here and belabour everyday why Nyandarua, Tharaka-Nithi, Lamu, Isiolo and Tana River counties require affirmative action from this House. This House must find a way of dealing with corruption before it is dissolved as stipulated in the Constitution next year. We will require a referendum to change the Constitution of Kenya which will translate to changes in certain statutory laws around devolution to rescue devolution from the bandits and robbers who have taken over a very noble concept. Mr. Temporary Speaker, Sir, I do not want to belabour that point. I hope during this short vacation we will add our voice to the increasing critical mass of Kenyans of goodwill who want to rescue the devolution project. However, we should not feel shy about it. As the Senator for Tharaka-Nithi, I am willing to be an individual complainant because corruption has swallowed up everybody. Nobody wants to provide evidence. As my brother said, when the institutions of accountability visit, they are given a treat they cannot refuse, including in some cases, being hosted for free in hotels owned by governors and other senior county officials. So, how do you expect officers from the office of the Auditor-General who are investigating corruption in a county to have an adverse report when they have been hosted, fed, entertained and given envelops by the same people they are investigating? The other day, the Anti-Corruption Day was celebrated in Tharaka-Nithi. I was not invited, hence I did not attend but I was surprised to see the officials of the anti- corruption agency dancing on a lorry with corruption suspects. These are people who are supposed to be either recording statements or should be in jail. They were dancing and celebrating Anti-Corruption Day with the suspects of corruption in our county. 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"
}