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{
    "id": 826784,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/826784/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 263,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "Kipipiri, JP",
    "speaker_title": "Hon. Amos Kimunya",
    "speaker": {
        "id": 174,
        "legal_name": "Amos Muhinga Kimunya",
        "slug": "amos-kimunya"
    },
    "content": "Hon. Temporary Deputy Speaker, I recognise that there is change of Chair. It is against this background that I feel we have glorified the office of county governor. If you remember where we started in terms of creating the office of governor, we wanted to run away from a situation where county council chairs and mayors would book themselves into some hotels with some councillors, buy their support and get re-elected. We chose universal suffrage for purposes of electing county council chairpersons and mayors. The system grew from that point, with more resources being devolved and we eventually have county governors. This title ‘governor’ seems to have gone into their heads. They now think of themselves as demigods within our counties. It started with the titles “His Excellency the Governor,” and “Her Excellency the First Lady.” If you are told a first lady is visiting your constituency, you would not even know which of the 48 first ladies would be visiting. We know that we only have one First Lady in the nation. Governors have created themselves as demigods instead of knowing that the function they are carrying out is exactly what was carried out under the Local Governments Act, Cap 265. There are 14 functions that were under the Local Governments Act. Those functions have been put under the Fourth Schedule. They have become what they are today. We glorified the governors and as a result, they are now capturing the county assemblies, which are supposed to oversee them. The county governors are now free to do whatever they want. Consequently, we will not see the benefit of the more than Kshs1.8 trillion that has been devolved to the counties. When you look out there in the countryside, the people are not necessarily any better. There are no medicines at public hospitals and poverty levels remain high. However, monies are being devolved and the governors are asking for more."
}