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{
    "id": 705661,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/705661/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 144,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "Hon. Onyura",
    "speaker_title": "",
    "speaker": {
        "id": 12833,
        "legal_name": "Michael Aringo Onyura",
        "slug": "michael-aringo-onyura"
    },
    "content": "Thank you, Hon. Temporary Deputy Speaker for this opportunity. I rise to support the County Assembly Services Bill. I am very convinced that the vehicle for the future development of this country is devolution and the counties. I strongly believe that the way to develop our country is through devolution. I am a strong supporter of devolution. For us to succeed and achieve what we set out to do and objectives of devolution, we need to create structures and put in place policies, systems and guidelines that can make operations in the counties as predictable as possible, so that we do not just have people groping around in the dark or through guess work. This Bill creates the stability and predictability that is needed for operations at the county level. I am happy it is being modelled around a bit of Public Service Commission and the Parliamentary Service Commission to give professional work and support to county assemblies which is lacking at the moment. One area that has pleased me is that the responsibilities of this board will be on matters of human resource development. We need to invest in human capital. We need to invest in providing human capacity for the counties both for the current need as well as for the future in terms of succession planning. The board will be charged with the responsibility of developing capacities, schemes of service and looking at the terms and conditions of service, including important issues like pension. These are some of the things that motivate staff and create stability and good working environment, which may be lacking in the counties. We need to strengthen the counties and I am happy to know that some of the aspirants for the member of county assembly (MCA) position have professional background. We need this kind of support for the counties because the amount of resources that they control is enormous. For example, my county, Busia, controls over Kshs4 billion every year. That is just what comes from the National Treasury. I believe they should generate at least Kshs1 billion. The county has a lot of resources and a very high potential. We need people with the ability to look into this potential and develop it for the county to be self sustaining instead of relying on resources from the National Treasury. The welfare of the county staff needs to be addressed clearly and seriously. This Bill gives mandate to the Service Board to deal with these issues that have been lagging behind. There are issues of disciplinary processes. Should there be need for disciplinary action, the processes should be clear to the staff and there is a good way of doing these things. I strongly support this Bill. It is going to be very useful as a guideline. It will strengthen the counties and their operations, which have been lagging behind."
}