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{
    "id": 772575,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/772575/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 10,
    "type": "other",
    "speaker_name": "",
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    "speaker": null,
    "content": ". Unlike the Second Senate which faced numerous challenges that affected its operationalisation, we must acknowledge that the foundation has now been laid, and carry on this important task of entrenching, safeguarding and advancing the devolved system of government in Kenya. Hon. Senators, I am happy to note in this regard that the induction of various Senate Committees is scheduled to commence this weekend and run through to the end of March. I expect that during these sessions, committees will be able to interrogate in depth how their predecessor committees performed, and identify opportunity areas that may be seized on to improve service delivery in the Senate. Having reviewed periodic and legacy reports from the previous Senate, I hope to see tremendous improvement in how we do our work both in committees and in plenary. In particular, the amount of time taken to process Bills at the Senate from First Reading through to Third Reading is inordinately long. Likewise, the time taken by committees to consider public petitions and report back to the Senate, often goes way beyond that provided for in the standing orders. When it comes to processing of statements, committee chairpersons have often presented to this House verbatim responses as received from Ministries without the committee having first interrogated the matter and adopted its own determination and response thereon. We must also re-look at how we undertake review of the Controller of Budget and Auditor-General Reports on the financial operations of county governments to ensure that the backlog of audit reports, going back to the Financial Year 2014/2015, are considered and the Committee Reports thereon tabled before this House for debate. Hon. Senators, my challenge to you is that we must keep reviewing and re- engineering our processes as we go along, to ensure that we ably discharge our mandate not just to this House, but also to the citizens of this great country, whom we are all here to serve. Hon. Senators, with regard to business pending before Committees, I note that there are seven Bills which were read a First Time during the previous Session, and are pending before committees for public participation and consideration by the committees. Further, four petitions which were reported during the last Session are pending before the respective committees to which they were committed. I urge these committees to fast-track consideration of these pending Bills and Petitions, noting that we have already exceeded the timelines provided in the Standing Orders for reporting back to the House. Hon. Senators, having said that, I wish to bring to your attention the fact that planning for two key events in the Senate Calendar has commenced; that is the Devolution Conference, which is scheduled to be held in Kakamega County tentatively in April this year and the Legislative Summit scheduled to be held in May, 2018. These two events accord the Senate the opportunity to interact with other key players in the devolution sector, identify and deliberate on the critical aspects of devolution, celebrate"
}