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{
    "id": 705641,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/705641/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 124,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "Hon. Oyugi",
    "speaker_title": "",
    "speaker": {
        "id": 444,
        "legal_name": "Augostinho Neto Oyugi",
        "slug": "augostinho-neto-oyugi"
    },
    "content": "Thank you, Hon. Speaker for giving me this chance. This is one of the best pieces of legislation that has emanated from the Senate. I really think that you need to laud them for this particular legislation. The only thing I would like to say about it is that it is a legislation coming too late in the day. We have done a lot of disservice to county assemblies. For the assemblies to work or operate without a proper framework it is totally unfair. You appreciate that corruption has been rampant among counties and some could have been facilitated by the lawmakers both at the National Assembly and the Senate. This Bill has one of the most important provisions and that is the creation of the County Assembly Fund (CAF). The MCAs have had serious problems with both remuneration and getting small allowances because they have been subject to the various county governors. It has not been possible for county assemblies to check county governors as the law anticipates. The Minority Chief Whip has spoken to the fact that it is the check and balance system. You cannot check the Executive if you do not have a budgetary provision or if you do not have money. Hon. Speaker, autonomy and independence cannot come if it is not backed by budgetary allocations. I think the provision on the CAF will go a long way in terms of making sure that county assemblies are autonomous. I believe that the next crop of MCAs will be Members who will have sufficient autonomy. I think it is something that they may be looking forward to. I am sure that as soon as we pass this Bill, county assemblies will move forward to check the things that we should be doing. Hon. Speaker, county assembly boards have done a lot of disservice to county assemblies across the country. The manner in which they were brought to office raises many questions. I appreciate that presently, there is already a provision in terms of the qualifications and the manner in which county assembly boards should be constituted. What we had in the past is that the boards were constituted by people’s friends, relatives, grandmothers and girlfriends. Therefore, nepotism was rife in county assembly boards. If you look at the calibre of people who work in county assemblies, you will find that half of them are not qualified. This is because county assembly service boards were not properly constituted. Creating a framework in terms of how the boards will be constituted is very good. This Bill, however much we laud it as good ought to be supported because it is timely. I think it has several fundamental flaws. Some of them are superfluous, unnecessary repetitions 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."
}