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{
    "id": 843245,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/843245/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 220,
    "type": "other",
    "speaker_name": "",
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    "content": "On self introduction, hon. Chepkong’a stated that he was born in 1961, went to school in Iten and studied law up to postgraduate level at the great University of Nairobi (UoN), where I am a proud alumnus. He worked with various organisations in different capacities, including the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) mission in preparation for the Constitution; the African Telecommunications Regulators where most of his experience has been; the Kenya Posts and Telecommunications Corporation (KPTC). After that, he went to the Kenya Planters Cooperative Union (KPCU) and the African Union (AU) before becoming a Member of Parliament (MP) from 2013 to 2107, representing Ainakboi Constituency which was newly created. He added that he has been the Chairperson of the Justice and Legal Affairs Committee during his tenure as MP. He also told us that he lost the elections and did not contest the results because ‘ asiyekubalikushindwa sio mshindani’ . Hon. Chepkong’a also informed Members that he had significant experience in the public sector, and the Legislature in particular. He was of the opinion that the Parliamentary Service Commission (PSC) would benefit from his experience having been a Member of Parliament, in the same way that the it did from Sen.(Dr.) Ali’s expedience. This is because Sen. (Dr.) Ali, prior to being a commissioner, had also been a Member of Parliament. We had to make sure that hon. Chepkong’a comes out clear because of the issues we are dealing with as Senators. We are over-sighting huge budgets. As the Senator of the great Nairobi City County, I am over-sighting a county government that has a budget of Kshs32 billion, yet my office does not have a shilling to play any oversight role. The Members of County Assembly (MCAs) are getting a Ward Fund while the Members of Parliament of the National Assembly each has more than Kshs120 million to do their work. The Women Representative has Kshs7 million per constituency and the Senator has kizungu kingi na catwalk! Madam Temporary Speaker, we, therefore, asked hon. Chepkong’a whether he supports us. This is because where we are right now as a Senate; this issue is stuck at the PSC. This is because it has put roadblocks in ensuring that we are able to create that vote through which we can reallocate our budget of Kshs550 million that the National Assembly sent to the Ministry of Devolution and Planning. In the day and age where Parliament has fought for its independence, Members of the National Assembly thought it wise to domicile oversight money of an independent arm of Government within the Executive in the Ministry of Devolution and Planning. Therefore, the sub-Committee which is led by Sen. Dullo and which I am part of, together with Sen. Mutula Kilonzo Jnr. and Sen. M. Kajwang, agreed that there would be nothing wrong in setting up a sub-vote within the Senate in terms of the facilities of Senators the same way we have our offices, and then do a reallocation of that money. Even that has received resistance from within the PSC but we hope and are sure we will resolve it. Madam Temporary Speaker, we had to ask hon. Chepkong’a and if he is listening - he must know that we will keep him and hold him to account to his words. We asked him whether he was in support of Senators not having their own kitty but having 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."
}