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"id": 674178,
"url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/674178/?format=api",
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"type": "speech",
"speaker_name": "Sen. Wetangula",
"speaker_title": "The Senate Minority Leader",
"speaker": {
"id": 210,
"legal_name": "Moses Masika Wetangula",
"slug": "moses-wetangula"
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"content": " Mr. Temporary Speaker, Sir, this Bill is one that my good neighbour, Sen.(Prof.) Lonyangapuo, has extensively talked to me about right from the time the ideas were evolving in his head. I am sure that he has not talked to me alone, but to other people as well. Devolution is a great constitutional gift to the people of Kenya. In fact, 70 per cent of the ‘Yes’ votes for the new Constitution was because of devolution. Kenyans were sick and tired of the corrupt centrist system. Not that the system has collapsed, but it is creeping back with even greater force. However, Kenyans wanted to devolve resources, authority and politics so that we can have people in the countryside doing exactly the same things if not better than we do in Nairobi. The devolution dream was stolen and ruined after the Bomas of Kenya talks. At the Bomas of Kenya, where devolution was born, there was a very good agreement that the country was going to have 16 regions which were not then called counties. Those regions are sufficiently large in terms of physical size, population, economic capability and could stand on their own. At that time, we agreed at the Bomas of Kenya that we were going to have Central Province as was then split into two, Rift Valley Province into three, Western Province into two, Nyanza Province into two, Eastern Province into three, North Eastern Province into two, Nairobi as an extra territorial region while the good people of the Coast Province opted to remain one. Mr. Temporary Speaker, Sir, you can imagine the size and the economic capacity of Coast region together; Lamu, Kilifi, Taita Taveta, Mombasa and Kwale. That is very viable. When you go Rift Valley, you will find small counties like Bomet. That is without any prejudice to you, Chair, it is physically small. When you also go to Eastern, you will also find a small county like Tharaka-Nithi with only two constituencies. Vihiga County in my region is also very small. If we had the economics of scale to devolve economics, requires a serious unit like the Majimbo units at Independence where the country was divided in seven regions plus Nairobi. That way, you would find a serious regional parliament in Kakamega, Nakuru, Kitale and others in Meru, Machakos, Mombasa and Nyeri. We probably would have grown much better. However, opportunists jumped in and completely destroyed the dream until we reached an unreasonable comprise. Everybody wanted their region to be a county. Some constituencies wanted to be counties. Any district as at 1994 was going to be a threshold and became a county. That is why you find Bomet is a county equal to Nakuru or Tharaka-Nithi is a county equal to Meru. These were districts that were curved out by retired President Mzee Moi to reward political cronies. They were never given on any rational thinking. He just sat and said: “The late hon. Kones is a good man, give him a district, so-and-so is a good man, give him a district, the late hon. Mudavadi is a good man, give him his Vihiga.” These are the 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"
}