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{
    "id": 918745,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/918745/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 275,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "Sen. Orengo",
    "speaker_title": "The Senate Minority Leader",
    "speaker": {
        "id": 129,
        "legal_name": "Aggrey James Orengo",
        "slug": "james-orengo"
    },
    "content": " Thank you, Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir. I also join my colleagues in congratulating the Chairperson of the Mediation Committee for a job well done. I also commend the membership of that Committee from the Senate. Sen. Pareno here was being modest with herself. You went there as a team and came up with a very good Report. One of the things that I have seen in this Report that very important is that in areas that deal with devolution and the role of county governments, and their participation on national issues, including projects like irrigation, in so far as they are covered under this legislation, the team we sent there made compromises, which they must. If you go before a mediation Committee, we do not expect you to come with everything. Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir, in matters that concern counties, and even where the participation of the Council of Governors (CoG) and governors was important, they came out very clearly. When the Bill came to the Senate, amendments were made to the original Bill from the National Assembly with the role of counties in mind, and generally under the principle of devolution. I thank this Committee that they compromised on many other things, but when it came to the role of counties and participation of the CoG in institutions – shall I put that in outfits which they find themselves in this particular Bill – they did not compromise. Governors should thank this Senate and the distinguished Senators who participated in this process. We are protecting, not only the CoG, but the counties generally. Sometimes governors become critical of the Senate when they feel like the Senate is not doing things to their liking. If they look at the work we do in terms of taking care of the interests of counties, they will find in the area of legislation or even what we have just dealt with – allocation of revenue and all that – that the Senate always stands with counties and governors. This is for as long as they are doing what they are supposed to do under the law. I thank this Committee because they kept their eye on the ball and the resultant effect was not to rubbish the work that we had done. You protected the work. We achieved nearly 90 per cent of what we had done as the Senate. Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir, let me make a little comment about the matter that we discussed yesterday. It would appear that, that debate is still ongoing – the role of the Senate. I am sure that even if we were to go to the people of Kenya today for them to make a choice between the Senate and the National Assembly, I can tell you that 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."
}