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{
    "id": 798424,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/798424/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 306,
    "type": "other",
    "speaker_name": "",
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    "speaker": null,
    "content": "It is sad that we do not learn. We only mourn when something happens. We need to learn from it and treat the same by putting more mitigation measures as a country to prevent these kinds of disasters from recurring. Going back to the Bill, this is the spirit of devolution according to the Constitution. When you talk of devolution, it is a constitutional spirit that wants to see every part of this country get a piece of revenue allocation from the national cake. Therefore, to have equal shares to all our wards, this means every person in this country will feel what devolution is. This will also help us to make sure that county governments do not only allocate funds according to the priority of the executives, parties with the majority in the county assemblies or any favour but according to the law. Therefore I congratulate my colleague Sen. Kang’ata for having thought deeply about our wards. This Bill will go a long way in seeing that every part of this country develops, because when we talk of wards, we are talking of every ward represented in the county assembly; these are the smallest units of devolution. Therefore all of them will enjoy the allocation that this Bill seeks to establish. Another thing I admire in this Bill is the issue of the county wards development boards. Our representatives in the wards will be represented. Most of the time, those people do not have an opportunity to go to Nairobi or where national Government sits to say what they need in their wards. With the creation of wards development boards, those who know exactly what the wards miss in terms of development will be brought on board. These are the representatives of the common mwananchi who cannot come and speak on ward development in Nairobi or the national Government. Another thing I want to talk about is the implementation committee which will ensure that everything is implemented. Many a time, we allocate money in this country that goes to very big projects that are not completed because there is no implementation committee and the common mwananchi is not empowered. They may not even be heard or even get a forum to talk about the uncompleted projects. Today we have projects where a lot of money was put but they do not provide any service to the common mwananchi. Therefore, implementation committees in our wards will help us to make sure that whatever monies that will be put in any project in the wards, which are our smallest units in devolution, will make meaning in our people’s lives. I also like the fact that there is a small percentage that will be put in the law for our Members of County Assemblies (MCA’s) for them not to be beggars. They will get their ward percentage through the law rather than getting it for doing a favour to the governor or being in the same party with him. Therefore, the creation of the framework by law is very important. We have some units, small villages or wards in this country that are not attended to by any Government official or elected politician because they did not vote for him or they did not vote for any party that is in Government at that time. This makes people to lag behind. This Bill will go a long way in making our people feel important and it will equalize development in our country. There are a few demerits when I look at this Bill. I foresee a situation where the MCA will require a Ward Administration Fund to determine the projects to develop. I foresee duplication of roles where the MCA will build classrooms and the Member of 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."
}