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"id": 698351,
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"speaker_name": "Hon. Chanzu",
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"legal_name": "Yusuf Kifuma Chanzu",
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"content": "the education system from the very beginning. However, they have not been provided in primary schools as it is supposed to be. People in private business have set up those centres and because of the demand and the requirement that children must pass through early childhood centres, particularly in towns like Nairobi, they have made them very expensive. I am sure if we start talking about it now the way we are talking about it and put it into law, it will create awareness so that people can start knowing that there are certain standards and requirements to be followed. This will help to reduce exploitation that has been there for a long time. The other aspect of interest is the fact that the Fourth Schedule of the new Constitution of Kenya, 2010 gave specific roles to the national Government and county governments. However, from what I have been listening to here, the way those things are being handled in counties varies from county to county. I have heard some of my colleagues here praising their governors for what they have done. However, the Chair and I know what we have gone through in our county. The Chair’s constituency and mine are almost the same. We are neighbours. What has happened in my place is the same as in his place. The county government has not built any early childhood centre in my constituency. They have taken over the primary schools which we built through Harambee or the NG- CDF. They, for instance, paint one classroom only. I heard one of my colleagues say that it costs the NG-CDF Kshs500,000 and the county government, Kshs1.9 million. I think ours has cost us Kshs2.5 million. They paint an existing classroom and put some mabatis, say, Galsheet Resincoat on top. They then write their names on the classroom. I have been telling myself: “If I was to write my name on all the projects that I have done in Vihiga Constituency for these many years, I do not know how it would look like.” So, it is a big shame on the part of some of the governors at the county governments. Either they do not know what they were supposed to do or they know but they have only gone there for their own stomachs. It is very sad. What happens in my county borders on crimes against humanity because if, for example, you are given food to feed people and you deny them that food, you are actually starving them to death. That is similar to what I see in many counties. Those are the aspects that the Senate should have stressed. The problem we have had with the Senate is that their roles are specified in the Constitution. The roles of the National Assembly are also spelt out but, at the initial stages, the Senate spent most of its time on supremacy wars with the National Assembly. It is my view that some of these laws should have been in place from the very beginning. The idea of protecting the counties and ensuring that they function should have been put in law a long time ago. However, it is never too late. So, I would like us to pay a lot of interest and look at what various Members have said because it seems to vary from place to place and, at the end of the day, it is the ordinary Kenyans who are being denied their rights. This country is only surviving on taxation because the little money we get from outside, if we get it at all, is meager. We survive on Income Tax, which is paid by all the employed people and then the VAT, which is a very big component of our taxation, and also Customs Duty. So, we are basically surviving on taxation. VAT is paid by every Kenyan. You know when you buy items for use, you are taxed. So, everybody is entitled to these services. It does not make sense to say that if the money remains in Nairobi, people will not access it and yet, when it is devolved to Kakamega or Vihiga, it is retained there at the headquarters. So, should we come up with another law to devolve the money from the headquarters of the county governments to the villages? It sounds awkward. Most of the people who are manning the functions that should be devolved to the ground are just sitting in offices. At our place in Mbale, you will find the The electronic version of the Official Hansard Report is for information purposesonly. A certified version of this Report can be obtained from the Hansard Editor."
}