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{
    "id": 837620,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/837620/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 251,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "Nominated JP",
    "speaker_title": "Hon. (Ms.) Cecily Mbarire",
    "speaker": {
        "id": 78,
        "legal_name": "Cecily Mutitu Mbarire",
        "slug": "cecily-mbarire"
    },
    "content": " Thank you, Hon. Temporary Deputy Speaker for giving me the opportunity to support this important Bill, which is timely and critical especially as we face devolution. We know what devolution means to the people, especially at the grassroots level. This Bill is critical because, for once, we are now very clear about the classification of areas; whether it is a city, municipality, town, or market centre. More importantly, we are now recognising the fact that we have county governments. The Bill, therefore, goes further to stipulate and provide for the role of county governments in managing the towns, cities, municipalities and market centres. Even clearer is the fact that the Bill recognises the county cities like is the case with Nairobi and Mombasa. It is critical that we plan cities and urban centres which are growing at a very fast rate, especially with the advent of devolution. We are seeing more people willing to stay closer to the counties. More and more people are now moving back to the counties. As a result, the towns we saw as small towns are now mushrooming into bigger towns because the population density is rising. With it, comes the challenge of inadequate infrastructure. Most of the towns do not have proper roads, water, sewerage system and so on. Therefore, it is important that proper planning is done so that the towns can grow properly in an organised way. That will ensure that services are delivered in an efficient and effective manner. Hon. Temporary Deputy Speaker, of course, with this Bill, it will become much easier not only for the national Government, but also for the county governments to collect revenue. The revenue collection base will broaden and it will be clearer as to who should pay revenue and for what purpose. Out of that revenue, the citizenry will expect services. More importantly, for the first time, we are recognising the role of neighbourhood associations. We know, for example, in the case of Nairobi, many estates are taken care of in terms of security. It is because neighbourhood associations come together and collect money that would cater for issues such as garbage collection and security. Therefore, it is important to have this recognised in the Act, so that those associations can be empowered to do even more than they are doing now."
}