Entry Instance

HTTP 200 OK
Allow: GET, PUT, PATCH, DELETE, HEAD, OPTIONS
Content-Type: application/json
Vary: Accept

{
    "id": 929225,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/929225/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 218,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "Sen. Halake",
    "speaker_title": "",
    "speaker": {
        "id": 13184,
        "legal_name": "Abshiro Soka Halake",
        "slug": "abshiro-soka-halake"
    },
    "content": "for moving it. I would also like to state that as Senators, our mandate is to protect counties. One thing we have not done very well is to look at the audit of what counties took over from the former county councils. I know we have been on the case of the counties with regard to the percentage of operational vis-à-vis developmental costs and the wage bill and all sorts of mzigo, so to speak. That is now the talk of the country. One thing that we must look at is how much debt, or which staff the counties inherited from the former county councils. There are counties where 70 or 80 per cent are ghost workers or people with little capacity or no relevance to the jobs they were supposed to do, but they had to be absorbed by the county governments. By the time counties started functioning, there are counties that almost 70 per cent of the money they received had to go to the wage bill. One thing that should be done, perhaps, through a substantive Bill or piece of legislation is to look into issues of the transition between the former county councils and the counties. We should look at what can be done to deal with the burden. That should happen every time there is transition because every time a new county government is in place, they not only have to do things according to their own manifestos, but inherit the debts from the defunct county councils. Sometimes I sympathize with the county governments when it comes to this. However, as it has been mentioned, there are below optimal practices in terms of personnel governance where a board may have a great dent not only on the finances of the county, but also on service delivery. One of the tragedies is that there will be no service delivered in the counties if we continue to do things the way we have been doing; that is getting people that supported us during elections who we promised certain arithmetic in terms of the ethnic balance and giving them favours and so on. It is not even about the numbers or resources, but there will be no service delivery in the counties. We should look at the capacities that people have and the basis on which they are taken on board. That is why people feel the burden. People would not be feeling the burden if they were getting good services. That does not only happen in the counties. I know we are concerned about counties and we protect them, which is our mandate under Article 96. However, we should make sure that staff rationalization is done even by the national Government. This is because one of the things that have become a big issue is that we do not have a working public service. I know there is a lot of capacity in public service at the national level, but why is it not working? That is why when you look at the work that authorities, commissions and parastatals are supposed to do, you will realise that it is the exact replica of what the Ministries are supposed to do. The entire public service, both at national and county level, needs to be looked at. This Motion is very timely, especially coming from the Senate which is the custodian, steward, oversight and protector of counties. I support it, but I hope that we will also look at some of the historical issues that have caused our counties to have bloated workforce that is unsustainable. I look forward to seeing this Motion implemented and rationalization effected at least by this Twelfth Parliament. Madam Temporary Speaker, I support. 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."
}