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{
    "id": 909167,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/909167/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 345,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "Sen. Murkomen",
    "speaker_title": "The Senate Majority Leader",
    "speaker": {
        "id": 440,
        "legal_name": "Onesimus Kipchumba Murkomen",
        "slug": "kipchumba-murkomen"
    },
    "content": "that its plenary and committee sittings be held in Kitui County from 16th to 20th September, 2019. Madam Temporary Speaker, this is a very important Motion. We are raising this Motion at a time when we are debating a serious responsibility of this House. As you have heard from most of our colleagues in the previous interventions, we have been discussing about the importance of the Senate when it comes to the budget processes. Citizens of this Republic are still asking questions. As I said earlier in my contributions, even Members of the National Assembly, including the Majority Leader, still need to be educated on the responsibility of the Senate when it comes to budgeting processes. Madam Temporary Speaker, you cannot go to budget estimates and appropriation at the national level, when you have not completed The Division of Revenue Bill. I have also insisted that this institution of the Senate is not personal. It is an institution for the people of Kenya. It should not be that because Sen. Murkomen is sitting here, we should bastardize and fight that institution. That is why when we stand here and say that we want more money to go to counties, we are not saying it because we come from Mars or we are more interested in counties than Members of the National Assembly. For this country to develop we should not pay lip service to the question of devolution and giving resources to the entities that are supposed to assist us develop. Where the Leader of the Majority in the National Assembly and the Leader of the Minority in the National Assembly come from are by index some of the most marginalized areas in the country. They need more money. It does not matter the relationship between the Member of Parliament and the Governor. What is important is what those resources can do. What legacy are we trying to establish for those resources to make a difference in our local counties? Therefore, we must not be petty. As I insisted, for the benefit of the country, the budget and Appropriation Bill that was tabled today by the Cabinet Secretary in the National Assembly, there is no need to stop him because it is not law. However, having read the Constitution and having fidelity to it, the Budget and the Appropriation Bill at the National Assembly cannot be assented to by the President until we have a proper Division of Revenue Bill that has been passed by both Houses of Parliament. That is when the county assemblies and National Assembly will now do their responsibilities of appropriating money, when the Senate and National Assembly will have agreed on the proper version of the Division of Revenue Bill. Having said that, as the Senate, we made a choice that we are the people’s institution. We will subject ourselves to the wishes of the people of Kenya and do everything possible to bring governance closer to the people. This is because Article 174 of the Constitution talks about the existence of devolution as a mechanism for taking services closer to the people. We want the people to feel their Senate and present issues that are affecting them; to learn and understand the importance of this institution. The future Senators who are being born today, some of whom will be young students that will visit us when we go to Kitui County, will be inspired. This is because they will be seeing their Senator interacting and debating in the Chamber with other Senators from other parts of the country. That is how to influence and impact other generations going forward. 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."
}