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{
    "id": 777853,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/777853/?format=api",
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    "content": "those petitions. In Clause 48, we have provided for offences and penalties. Clause 49, which is the mother of all, provides for the repeal of the Districts and Provinces Act, if this Senate and the National Assembly agree to this. Madam Temporary Speaker, to all my colleagues, Senators, the schedules of all the county boundaries are described here in such minute details that they will have no problem in determining and identifying the boundaries. Madam Temporary Speaker, as I wind up, the compromise achieved in 1992 was not easy. Prior to 1992 Gazette notices and those of boundaries after 1992, which I have, the cut-off point – we must thank the drafters of the Constitution for finding a cut-off point – was 1992. Anything done after or prior to 1992 will have a formula of how you will bring it through this Bill. Otherwise, there is nothing else you can do about these boundaries. I plead with my colleague Senators; this is one method that we can protect our counties. Sen. (Dr.) Zani came up with a very nice Bill which ended up in the shelves in the National Assembly. What will happen if we find minerals bestriding two counties? Sen. (Dr.) Zani had proposed that there is a formula for sharing of either revenue or benefits. Turkana County has oil and they are demanding 20 per cent. That Bill never saw the light of day and another one has been published. What if the neighbouring county finds that they have oil, how do you determine those benefits before you determine the boundaries? Baringo County was fighting over a water resource with the other ones. This Bill will provide a formula. That formula will be; that I know where your boundary is and we can live as good neighbours. These boundaries are not walls. I am not proposing that we build perimeter walls with our neighbours. I am just proposing that everybody knows where they should be and where they should not be. It is a contradiction that every ward and constituency knows where their boundary is. All Members of either the County Assembly or constituencies do not have a problem where they ask for votes. When it comes to counties, there is a dispute as to where these boundaries are. This is one way of keeping this country together, by understanding that if you stay in your compound and you do not throw stones at your neighbours, it does not make you a bad neighbour. However, if we can put fences around our compounds and live together peacefully, then counties can live together peacefully without necessarily having a conflict. We want to provide that formula to ensure that these county boundaries are firmly in law. However, my fear is that – I want to tell my colleagues – by strange luck, if you find a despot in this country, they would easily remove counties because they are not anchored in law. If you ask where your county is, your county only exists in a Schedule and some paragraphs in the Constitution and nothing more whereas the constituencies and wards have clear boundaries. If you recall the Petition by Sen. (Prof.) Ongeri where they wanted to excise a part of a forest to create a factory, the question then was; are you going to add the size of the ward or constituency? The formula is provided for if they wanted to do so and if they can. However, if it was your boundary, you cannot do so. 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."
}