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{
"id": 703410,
"url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/703410/?format=api",
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"type": "speech",
"speaker_name": "Sen. (Eng.) Muriuki",
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"speaker": {
"id": 2559,
"legal_name": "Stephen Muriuki Ngare",
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"content": "Mr. Temporary Speaker, Sir, thank you for giving me the opportunity to say one or two things with regard to this Bill. I support this Bill strongly. The gist of this Bill is on who has the final say when it comes to suspension and ultimately the dissolution of a county government. We are happy that we have a new Constitution which we had been crying for many years, if not decades. Eventually, we got a Constitution in 2010 and it is now running into six years. However, it has now dawned on us that there are very many gaps in this Constitution which make many laws which we have had before, to require amendments because too many things are not clear. I am sure that when Sen. Mutula Kilonzo Jnr. was generating this Bill, he had certain things in mind and certain gaps in law which required to be filled. I think the case of the County Government of Makueni must have played a bigger role of the decision to proceed with this Bill. The Constitution includes a system which is now in the County Governments Act to suspend a county. Technically, anybody can raise an issue with a county government for it to be suspended. However, when it comes to the government itself or a part of that government where the executive says: “Dissolve us, we are unable to proceed,” and go on to tell the residents of that county that their government requires to be dissolved, I think they should be listened to. Mr. Temporary Speaker, Sir, in the case of Makueni County, we ended up in a situation where not only the Executive arm of the government asked to be dissolved, but I believe a part of the Assembly did too, other than the fear that perhaps, if it were dissolved, then they may not be re-elected. The situation obtaining in the County Government of Makueni, which I hope has changed since then, was just untenable. When we get to that stage, it is fair that the final work which is the gist of this Bill should lie with the legislature. In this case, the Senate arm of Parliament. A Commission of inquiry has to come in because we do not want to believe the governor, his team or anybody else claiming that they have enough support to ask that the county government be dissolved. The work of the commission is to go through in detail the issues which have come up so that it establishes whether the people of that county want their government dissolved or not. When that report of the commission is given to the President, he is entitled to his views and recommendation. That is fair because he is the Head of State. It is only fair for him to give his views in the form of recommendations to the Senate. However, to have a situation where the final say then ends up being with the Executive is what we want to do away with. That way, when that report of the commission goes to the President, he will refer it legally to the Senate. It must be discussed not just by the Committee, but also the whole House so that the House, on behalf of the 47 counties, will resolve whether the county government should be resolved or not. Mr. Temporary Speaker, Sir, we must realise thatwhen electing Senators the counties are equal irrespective of their size and population. This means that once the Senate has said, the countyhas said. This is what we want to get to. Mr. Temporary Speaker, Sir, there are many gaps in the impeachment process, although it is spelt out in the Article 181 of the Constitution. It is the same thing which Sen. Mutula Kilonzo Jnr. is trying to address through this Bill. When a Senator comes up 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"
}