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{
    "id": 855012,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/855012/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 181,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "Sen. Cherargei",
    "speaker_title": "",
    "speaker": {
        "id": 13217,
        "legal_name": "Cherarkey K Samson",
        "slug": "cherarkey-k-samson"
    },
    "content": "It is just like the Privatization Commission. We have been asking questions because the Senate has been given no role in some of the agencies that are supposed to be privatized by the national Government, yet some of them are found within counties. As the Chairperson of the Committee on Justice, Legal Affairs and Human Rights, I want to thank Sen. Sakaja for that point. We will take the necessary steps. I am a Member of the Jubilee party and know that Sen. Sakaja is the founder of the Jubilee party. Of course, I would not want to say at this point that the Cabinet Secretary for Devolution and ASAL areas, Hon. Wamalwa, has defied or not engaged us. We are in the process of engaging him and ensuring that we move forward. Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir, the list should be submitted to the Public-Private- Partnership. This amendment has also brought the issue of priority list. I know that our counties have unique priority lists. For example, the priority list for counties in the north eastern region could be infrastructure and water. However, when you go to the Rift Valley region, where I come from, the priority is agriculture and infrastructure. If you look at the records in 2016, my County Government wanted to buy construction equipment through financial leasing. At that point in time, the High Court in Eldoret held the view that we needed a loan guarantee according to Chapter 12 of the Constitution on issues of public finance. These are some of the issues that if we allow counties to do without a public-private-partnership unit and priority, it will not be very good for them. Sen. Dullo has talked about issues in the medical sector that are happening in Isiolo County. In my county, there was an agreement on special economic zone, where the county government decided to bring an investor at Chemase which is at the border of Nandi County and Kisumu County. The population was not aware of it until I made noise. The county assembly was never involved and there was no public participation, but the investor was already on site. I know that there are many other counties that have gone into agreements on special economic zones, yet there is no proper involvement of the public and guidelines to the county governments. A governor just decides to travel abroad alone and enter into some agreements without involving the county assembly. This amendment is timely so that we can give the necessary priority. The issue of capacity has been captured well. Some of the Memoranda of Understanding (MoU), engagements and processes that the counties are undertaking are sometimes done out of ignorance and lack of technical expertise and capacity. I hope that the county assemblies will be given the opportunity and technical advice, before they allow the county executive to approve any MoU with any investor without any necessary procedure or infrastructure. The amendment has come up with the issue of evaluation and it is important. I know that there is already an audit that is provided by the unit that has been created through this amendment. By the time the county assembly approves or rejects something through the evaluation report, they should seek public interest as a priority. I like this amendment for it proposes priority projects. The Lake Region Economic Block is proposing a bank which might not be a priority if the residents of the 14 counties have challenges with roads, bursary and even healthcare. The aspect of priority list is important for the county assembly and it should be provided and factored in as they The electronic version of the Senate Hansard Report is for information purposesonly. A certified version of this Report can be obtained from the Hansard Editor, Senate."
}