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"content": "that when you are putting out an advertisement for public participation, you can use other avenues including funeral sessions, churches or local vernacular radio stations to reach to the people. Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir, I do not think that any county government or county assembly should move forward with this issue of converting former town councils into municipalities without seeking the views of the people who live in those towns. In Narok County, you will find an old man who has 100 acres of land. He has kept that land for over 50 years. That land goes all the way up to the urban centre. His neighbors have sold their parcels of land. Slowly by slowly, the town has now completely expanded swallowing the 100 acres of land of this old man. The moment you introduce a municipality, you begin charging that old man land rates. He has enjoyed having a freehold title for many years. He does not know that. So, let us engage and consult him. I encourage that as we develop this, let us engage the stakeholders. Those stakeholders are the poor farmers who pay taxes. We should tell them that we are now coming up with a policy that requires them to be part and parcel of the budget making process. We have these County Integrated Development Plans (CIDPs) which are developed by county governments in urban centers. Just like what Sen. Omogeni said, when the people want a kitchen, give them a kitchen. Do not come out and say you are going to give them iron sheets. When the people want a hall which they can use to meet, let them have it. If they want a road, let them have it. Narok County is one of the biggest bread baskets of this nation. We produce a lot of wheat, barley and potatoes, but all that is rotting because the citizens of Narok North, for instance, are not consulted on what is important for them. Maybe public participation is carried out and they know that it is a right, but there is nothing written in law for them to find out what they can do if their right is violated. Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir, the other issue I would like to see in this Bill is what if certain policies are introduced and passed, and it is alleged that public participation what carried out yet it was not, what should happen? Should we result to going to a court of law for us to get remedy? Should we set a threshold on the number of locals or people in the streets who must participate in a public participation session for it to be considered as having been carried out effectively? I do not want to belabor the point, but it is quite clear. The Constitution has spelt out the importance of public participation in every decision that is carried out in this country. The people of Kenya know, but it is us, the Government, Parliament, county governments and county assemblies, that try to circumvent that. They do not want people to be involved because ordinarily, it will take a lot of time for that decision to be crystalized. Little do they know that when you share an idea with many people, eventually, what you come up with will be intelligent or satisfy and answer all questions that maybe the people who were coming up with it did not consider. Finally, when we engage our citizens in decision making, we are empowering them. This Bill does not only seek to engage or seek the ideas of our citizens, but also empowering them. It is giving them a right to walk proudly and say: “I paid taxes to develop Kenya and my views were respected.” Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir, with those many remarks, I support. 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."
}