{"id":806227,"url":"http://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/806227/?format=json","text_counter":290,"type":"speech","speaker_name":"Sen. Olekina","speaker_title":"","speaker":{"id":407,"legal_name":"Ledama Olekina","slug":"ledama-olekina"},"content":"Thank you, Madam Temporary Speaker. The role of this House starts from Article 93 of the Constitution. Many people do not recognise that the Senate is, indeed, a part of Parliament. Holding a session in Uasin Gishu will demystify the role of the Senate. I support this Motion because it is important for people in Kenya to realise how important this House is. This House is tasked with making laws which is something that many people do not recognize. This House is also tasked with protecting the interests of counties and their governments. Madam Temporary Speaker, the people of Uasin Gishu County have suffered a lot. I know that many farmers were not paid. Therefore, holding the session in Uasin Gishu County will give the people of Uasin Gishu County an opportunity to come and present their petition and understand how important the role of the Senate is. I cannot emphasis the importance of oversight. We have had a lot of tug of wars and fights with the National Assembly in terms of them approving our resources for us to carry out our oversight function. This Motion will not only give us an opportunity for us to carry out oversight but it will show how creative this House and its Members are in ensuring that regardless of what barriers are put in front of us, we still proceed to carry out our oversight. People will realize the importance of this House. Madam Temporary Speaker, we have many things that we can share with the Members of County Assemblies (MCAs). We realized that we are so blessed to have competent senior lawyers in this House who can guide us in terms of establishing legislation, dealing and interrogating matters on issues of the reports of the Auditor- General. You realize that in county governments, the assemblies are required to also consider the reports of the Auditor-General. This is the time to enable us, particularly, in this year when the Senate is proving to be the most effective House of Parliament, to help build capacity for our MCAs so that they can make laws that will help improve the standards of living for their people. Madam Temporary Speaker, earlier on, we were talking about the epidemic of cancer. When these assemblies see the way we interrogate the petition and are able to move, they can pick up the best practices and come up with legislation that will not conflict with the laws that we make either from the National Assembly or the Senate. Madam Temporary Speaker, it is important for us to promote our work for the counties and the people of Kenya to realize that without the Senate, devolution will be dead. I am proud of this House because when we see legislation that claws back on the 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"}