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{
    "id": 756827,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/756827/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 27,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "The Senator for Uasin Gishu County",
    "speaker_title": "",
    "speaker": null,
    "content": "(Sen. (Prof.) Kamar Margaret Jepkoech): Thank you, Mr. Speaker, Sir, for giving me this opportunity to join my colleagues in registering our appreciation and thanks to the His Excellency the President for the exposition of public policy contained in the Address he made in Parliament during the Joint Sitting of Parliament. Mr. Speaker, Sir, His Excellency the President started by noting that the peace that we enjoy today is God given. I would like to join him in thanking God for the peace that we have enjoyed as a country and pray that the peace continues even as we humble ourselves before him. In his Address, His Excellency the President reminded us of our representative roles. As a Senate, according to Article 96, we are the representatives of the counties. As Senators, we are here to protect the interests of the counties and their governments. This is a very huge task that has been put on our backs. I want to urge my colleagues, Senators, that the role of representation is a very important role. Having chosen to be Senators, it is important to ask ourselves whom we have represented well and whom we are under-representing. We need to look at our constituents well, classify them and be sure that we represent the whole county because the county is composed of majorities and minorities, youths and adults, men and women and people with disabilities. As representatives of the county, we must take stock of whom we have and who we are representing. This is extremely important because as we look at the interests of the counties, we have budgets that we pass through the Division of Revenue Bill between the county and the national Government.When we have released funding to the counties, we must make sure that we cover everybody. I say this knowing that the new Constitution was meant to cure a number of things. It was meant to cure inequalities in treatment and services. In fact, there is a Fund that we all know called the Equalisation Fund. This Fund is meant to bring those who are left behind to the levels where other Kenyans are. It is important that as we look at the counties, we make sure that nobody within the county has been left behind. We have counties that are not within the special group that receive the Equalisation Fund and yet they are less equal than others within the county. It is important to make sure that no one is left behind because devolution is meant to place each and every Kenyan at the level that we are representing. As representatives of the people, I dare say that the Senate, in my view, is the equalizer and it will balance the development of this country and bring everybody to appreciate the developments of the Government. For this reason, I would like to congratulate all the Senators who were elected to this House and to encourage them to ensure that the second Senate has more impact than the first Senate. Mr. Speaker, Sir, I appreciate that when His Excellency the President gave his Address, he celebrated women because I am one of them. In celebrating the women, he recognized the three women governors. I also congratulate them and thank the people of Kirinyaga County, the people of Kitui County and the people of Bomet County for"
}