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{
    "id": 805138,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/805138/?format=api",
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    "content": "I also wish to support this Bill because the County Attorney shall be a person of high qualifications. While I was looking at the qualifications, I saw a requirement of seven years’ experience which is very high. I support my colleagues in the sense that the county government is a devolved unit of the national Government where we should have a very qualified person to advise the governor. Madam Temporary Speaker, the governor and the County Executive Committees (CECs) are the main managers of what is going on in the counties. Therefore, a reflection of the development that is going on in the various counties had to have problems because of lack of legal advice. If I can talk about the past, you do realise that we had a number of issues. In most cases, when it comes to the procurement of either human resource, recruitment, separation, deployment and even the management, there have been a lot of problems right now. Right from the first county governments, problems have been fed into the second county governments because of illegal ways of carrying out those particular issues in the counties. Right now, I am sure many of the governors are having problems of having to visit the legal institutions. In addition to that, a lot of money is being spent, just as my colleagues have said and as was underscored by the Deputy President when we were in the Legislative Summit in Mombasa. This morning, we realised that the legal staff normally charge for their services based on the abilities of their clients. I realised that they charge you for their services by looking at the way you dress and the amount of money you have. There are many counties that are suffering right now as a result of that. With this Office of the County Attorney, the governor and the CECs will have the right advice to carry out things in the best ways. Therefore, we expect to have better county governments in the future. I also support this Bill because of the fact that there are issues which are touching on various offices in the counties. A few minutes ago when I was walking in here, I met somebody and she complained about certain issues. She had even asked for permission to go for a three month leave because she was taken away from her job and sent to another area that is not her field of expertise. This is because of a poor legal framework in terms of recruitment. I was happy when I learnt that this Bill is going to enable the Office of the County Attorney to offer legal support in solving criminal issues or civil matters that are affecting the counties. By doing so, we will prevent the counties from losing a lot of money that we have been seeing for many years. Madam Temporary Speaker, last time when we were in the Legislative Summit, we witnessed a very ugly case that came up just because of a small word in English. This means that Members of the County Assemblies (MCAs) who are the first point of contact in terms of oversight are not very sure on how to conduct issues. If we have this Office of the County Attorney, the MCAs will be advised when it comes to legal matters. In addition to that one, I hope that the Members who were drafting this Bill will also add issues of arbitration that we learnt this morning that can be part of the various laws to assist in dispensing many cases that will come up. 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."
}