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{
    "id": 698589,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/698589/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 212,
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    "content": "have a report card to present to Kenyans particularly as a Senate. We also have our individual report cards in the various counties. Therefore, it is important that this House pushes the Auditor-General and other institutions so that they do not let this House down. Most likely, we will proceed to elections having looked at the audited accounts of our counties for only two financial years yet we should have looked at the five financial years. Therefore, that is something we need to ask the leadership of this Senate which comprises the Senate Majority Leader, the Senate Minority Leader and others and that particular committee to take time to reflect and give some thought into the work plan of the Committee between now and 2017, so that it is seen that we did some bit of work. Mr. Temporary Speaker, Sir, at the level of individual responsibility with regard to accountability in our specific counties, on Tuesday, I tabled the regulations pursuant to the Statutory Instruments Act. These are the regulations that are supposed to help us operationalize the Senate Oversight Fund and that is very important. We have persuaded the National Assembly and we have done several meetings and approached the Parliamentary Service Commission and everybody seems to be in agreement. Some Members of the National Assembly who initially opposed the idea of the Senate being supported and facilitated to carry out this particular responsibility have realised that the same governors they initially supported have actually supported or are funding individuals to run against them for the seats they hold. This should be a lesson. That is why this should be a lesson that when issues of accountability and support for institutions are presented either to the Senate or the National Assembly, people must look beyond their circumstances at that point. Some of us who are running for governorship in the next election must fight to ensure this Senate is facilitated. This is because it is not just about whether I am going to be in the Senate or not or whether I am going to run for governorship or not but it is about ensuring constitutional institutions are given the necessary facilitation to carry out their responsibility. Therefore, we need, as a House, to give some thought to the remainder of our term. We need to ask ourselves what these bare minimums that we need to undertake as a House are. I also want to invite the leadership of this House to consider retreating with the National Assembly. I personally have four Bills that have been approved, passed through this House, they are pending in the National Assembly and they have not been listed for the First Reading. In the Senate, we have over 21 Bills that we have passed cumulatively and the National Assembly has not listed them for First Reading. Mr. Temporary Speaker, Sir, we need to anticipate. Of course, somebody is setting up the Senate for failure so that as we approach the next election - since there has been misplaced discussion as to the relevance and importance of this House - once the National Assembly starts presenting a report card of over 100 Bills passed into law through the Senate because we have rubber stamped and we always give the first priority to those Bills coming from the National Assembly, then you look at the Bills that have been passed by this House and they are barely 10. Surely, a political argument can be made that this House has not been useful in supporting devolution and the discussion as to whether we are relevant will come up. Mr. Temporary Speaker, Sir, I think it is important and I want to urge the leadership of the Senate that we should not wait until we are done with our term for us to 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"
}