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{
    "id": 775035,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/775035/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 299,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "Sen. (Prof.) Ongeri",
    "speaker_title": "",
    "speaker": {
        "id": 124,
        "legal_name": "Samson Kegeo Ongeri",
        "slug": "samson-ongeri"
    },
    "content": "Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir, I thank you for giving me the opportunity to comment on this Bill. I do not know whether to support or oppose it because the Mover and the seconder have cast doubts on the Bill.They are not quite clear what it should be or what direction we should take. They have not provided this House with a clear reason this Bill is on the Floor of the House. Nevertheless, from my previous experience as the Minister for Local Government and having been in other organizations that have managed the cities and urban centres, the philosophy behind the urbanization of any given area, making it either an urban centre, market centre, or for that matter a municipality or town, is to decentralize services that hitherto have not reached the population at that level. One of the fundamentals that we all agreed upon during the negotiations for devolution is being able to transfer not only the structure, like we are trying to do through this Bill, but that structure must be accompanied with both human and financial resources to create equity in the way the national resources are being spent for the rest of the population of Kenya. Granted, Nairobi generates 60 percent of our GDP. One of the reasons we say that this is skewed up is that we should enable our rural towns to contribute decently towards the national GDP. Therefore, the GDP will have a direct impact on the populations of the people staying in that rural level. That was a concept of rural-urban settlement schemes or programmes. You have cited London City where I have lived with nostalgia. But it is a city with equally immense problems. You have cited Beijing. In fact, what you see in Beijing is a cloud of air full of smog. You can hardly survive there because of industrial pollution. These are not the kind of towns and cities we want to create for our populations in this country. We want to create towns and cities that have clean air, good sanitation and social services that would normally drive our people to come to the main City of Nairobi and other rural cities in search of job opportunities and clean facilities. They leave home thus congesting these towns and cities as we see them today. My concept of wanting to support this Bill will be basically hinged on the understanding that as we do so, we will be devolving resources to county governments so that they can pass on these benefits to our rural populations. I would like to see a small village where I grew up many years ago enjoying the kind of facilities, not to the same level as Nairobi City, but to see them having piped water, tarmac roads, street lights - not just one occasional light, accessible health facilities, Early Childhood Development (ECD) facilities, decent primary schools and security where they are staying. These are elements that add to good governance where there is a market, an urban centre, a town or municipality. There should be provision of water since it is life. Without water, it will be very difficult for any population to even appreciate that we are in leadership. Hon. Senators, you will all agree with me that one of the biggest problems we have in the rural area is that we are not able to provide anything for the people we represent here. We are not able 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."
}