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{
    "id": 886684,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/886684/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 354,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "Sen. Malalah",
    "speaker_title": "",
    "speaker": {
        "id": 13195,
        "legal_name": "Cleophas Wakhungu Malalah",
        "slug": "cleophas-wakhungu-malalah-2"
    },
    "content": "Thank you, Madam Temporary Speaker. I stand guided. I stand to second this Bill. First of all, I passionately believe in the concept. Since I was a Member of County Assembly (MCA) we have been fighting for this Bill to go through. I take this earliest opportunity to thank the Chairperson and Sen. Kang'ata for pushing for this noble idea. The gist of this Bill is that we will ensure that devolution works. The principles of devolution categorically and vividly state that we need to decentralise power and resources down to wananchi. The promulgated Kenya Constitution, 2010 provided for general framework in which we were supposed to ensure that monies are decentralised from the central Government to the county governments and further to the village level. However, we did not have a legal framework to ensure that those resources trickle down to the villages. Therefore, it is with that purpose that I stand to second this Bill because it will ensure that more resources are devolved from county headquarters to villages. Madam Temporary Speaker, we have visited counties and seen a lot of infrastructural development in some urban areas. However, it is a pity that in the villages, our people are lacking basic amenities. For example, if you go to Mung’ang’a in Kakamega County, people do not have water points where they can draw clean water for them and their animals. I believe this Bill will provide a framework which will encourage decentralisation of resources from the county headquarters to the village level. The gist of this Bill is to encourage a bottom-up approach to project identification, planning and implementation. One finds that in most of our county government establishments, we do not go down to the villages to identify the needs of the people at the grassroots level. We only sit in hotels and adjudicate matters pertaining to counties at a high level. We have not interrogated the process of going down to the common mwananchi. Those people who voted for us are never consulted before a project is initiated in their villages. Therefore, we have moribund projects from the beginning because they did not consult the citizens at the grassroots. This Bill provides for identification of projects from the grassroots. The noble idea behind this Bill is that every community has its unique problems. For example, the people in Marama South Ward have different needs from those in Mautuma Ward in Kakamega County. This Bill clearly sets out the procedure that we need, to identify the projects from the grassroots. Clause 7(4) of this Bill clearly states how the county public service officers will sit together with the village councils to identify projects through public participation. This also challenges the county governments, which have not established village councils. I am proud that my county is the first to delineate power. We have ward administrators, and further, we have even recruited the community area administrators. This will, therefore, challenge county governments that have not implemented that structure, as envisaged in the Constitution; to go"
}