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{
    "id": 826830,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/826830/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 309,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "Kinangop, JP",
    "speaker_title": "Hon. Zachary Thuku",
    "speaker": {
        "id": 13380,
        "legal_name": "Zachary Kwenya Thuku",
        "slug": "zachary-kwenya-thuku"
    },
    "content": " Thank you, Hon. Temporary Deputy Speaker, for this opportunity to contribute to this Bill. I want to support the same with some reservations because there are some amendments that I do not support. I wish to state at the outset that I will bring some amendments during the Committee of the whole House stage. This is a Bill whose time has come. I would rightly put it so, given the circumstances under which our county governments are being run. They are being run as if they are private members’ clubs, with one person in whom all power is concentrated. Maybe by enacting this Bill we are going to cure some problems that we witness in our individual counties. You will agree with me that our county governments have turned into breeding grounds for impunity and corruption. You will agree with me because at the moment we are staring at a graft case where one county government is reported to have lost close to Kshs1.5 billion. As much as that has not been proven, it is something that should ring a bell and sadden all of us. A county government loses Kshs1.5 billion when it has an oversight body called county assembly. Therefore, this Bill comes to cure the fears that the county assemblies in this country live by, because once the governor threatens the MCAs, they are not able to do their oversight job. For instance, there was a Motion in my own county where the MCAs wanted to impeach some CEC Members on grounds of corruption. All the MCAs who supported the Motion have since been marginalised; they have been marked and have been told categorically, “We are not going to bring development to your individual wards”. That is a very dangerous precedent being set. Maybe, this Bill will safeguard these people and ensure that they do their job without fear of being de-whipped out of committees because the governor controls the county assembly. This Bill will cure that mischief. We also have to empower the people we entrusted with the responsibility of running the affairs of county assemblies, namely; speakers of the county assemblies. Clause 11(1)(c) seeks to lower the threshold for impeaching a speaker of a county assembly. This is very dangerous given the turbulence that the county governments are going through. Therefore, we should retain the threshold at three-quarters of the membership. This Bill is also formally creating the position of deputy speaker, which is a very good thing. The deputy speaker in my county’s Assembly is in office illegally because there is no statute that supports that office. There is a court ruling that set a precedent in respect of Murang’a County Assembly. So this is a good Bill that I support. However, on the issue of removal, we should maintain the same threshold as it was at 75 per cent just to ensure that they work without fear and intimidation."
}