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{
    "id": 905492,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/905492/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 302,
    "type": "other",
    "speaker_name": "",
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    "content": "Mwongozo. We have done this for other boards. From the word go, the term of six years is just too much. If you have a county attorney who has been conquered by one arm of government, you will be in trouble. I will propose at the Committee of the whole House stage that we have a four- year renewable term based on one’s performance just as we have done for every appointee, whether on a board or elsewhere. I agree with Dr. Ochanda that this should be a system and not another political undertone. County attorneys will help counties. I have experience in working with county governments. As we talk of Public-Private Partnership (PPP) loans, counties have lost a lot of money because of hastily signing documents that govern those aspirations. At the very end, you find that you have signed a document that has ripped the county a lot of dollars. They will also help a great deal in drafting publications of legislative proposals. We are talking of two arms of the Government - county assembly and the county executive. We are not talking about the office of the governor. The county attorney will serve the whole county government. This is the office that will help them if they are going in the wrong or right direction. Right now, that is not offered to them. Instead, they go to other entities. This is a person who should be hired, as stipulated, through the Public Service Board so that they are independent. When they are independent, they will represent the people effectively. He should be someone who will stand between the public interest on litigation matters and the county government. They should be able to represent any complaint from the public. That independence is critical. This office will also be a link between the national Government and county government. For example, there are national and county legislations. Who harmonises this? That is a nightmare for county governments. We will be able to see which is which. Insurance covers in our counties are also a mess. Most insurance agents need a legal person to understand them, so that they portray the art of the law. This is a mess and counties have lost money. It should be noted that because of the delay of disbursement of funds from the National Treasury, counties have problems with contractors. They have been sued left, right and centre. The representation in many counties is through private legal counsels, who are very expensive. We lose a lot of money on that front. When we establish the Office of the County Attorney, as one Member has said, it will be cost-effective. Most of the money that is used on litigation out there is enough to run the county for a year. The issue of the youth also comes in. The qualifications for this office should be similar to those for appointment as an advocate of the High Court because legal issues require experience. We should factor in the Mwongozo guidelines. Let it be the level of the High Court advocate. This is a good Bill. It should have been there when devolution was taking root so that county government officers could be properly guided as they carried out their mandates, but as the wise man says, it is better for it to come late than to miss out completely. I will propose an amendment on the six-year term. It can be good, but it can also be disastrous. Let us relook at that particular provision and propose alternatives. If one’s performance is good, one’s term should be renewed. If not, in four years’ time, one should be kicked out of office."
}