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{
    "id": 922671,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/922671/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 337,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "Sen. Olekina",
    "speaker_title": "",
    "speaker": {
        "id": 407,
        "legal_name": "Ledama Olekina",
        "slug": "ledama-olekina"
    },
    "content": "Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir, I will be very brief and go straight to the point because a lot of the issues I wanted to bring out have already been brought out by my colleagues. I support the amendments in this Bill. I congratulate my sister for coming up with such a timely Bill when we are talking about devolution because service delivery is key. Everyone in this country, regardless of where they come from and their economic position, must get services. One of my biggest problems is to do with austerity measures. When austerity measures are introduced to curb Government spending, it makes it difficult for people to get services. I urge her to think about how such issues should be dealt with. By cutting on the expenditure, it is like the Government does not want services to be delivered to the people. There is a reason why offices of the Ombudsman were established worldwide. I remember New Zealand was the fourth country to introduce the office of the Ombudsman. A couple of years ago, I had an issue with the Judiciary because the court premises in Narok had not been completed and there was limited service delivery to the people of Narok. When I complained to the former Chief Justice, Hon. Willy Mutunga, he directed me to the office of the Ombudsman. Bringing the headquarter of that office to Nairobi means that someone who does not know of the existence of that office will never get their services. Currently, the legislators act as the Ombudsman because people complain to them regarding the services that they are not receiving. The legislators are the ones who deal with issues of that office. We come up with laws and other than that, we pick up the phone and call particular Government offices to ask them the reason as to why they are not doing x, y, z. Earlier on, we had the issue of people not getting birth certificates. If this office is devolved in Narok, Machakos or any other county, people can go there and report that they have not been issued with birth certificates or title deeds. This is a timely Bill and I hope that we will all support it. I encourage my good friend, Sen. Were, to remove the clause that states that the headquarter will be in Nairobi. Instead, she should push for the 47 offices in the counties to have the same powers as the office in Nairobi because they all offer services. We should not send everything to Nairobi. If that office does not have enough budget, the people will not get services, not until the Senate or the Members of Parliament in the ‘Lower House’ allocate more money to it. 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."
}