{"count":1608389,"next":"http://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/?format=json&page=138871","previous":"http://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/?format=json&page=138869","results":[{"id":1405111,"url":"http://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/1405111/?format=json","text_counter":487,"type":"speech","speaker_name":"Sen. Orwoba","speaker_title":"","speaker":null,"content":"Thank you, Madam Temporary Speaker. I beg to be protected and my time preserved for my contribution. I have heard the Senators in the House reference the national Government and what it should be. We are here because of the introduction of devolution. The National Disaster Response Fund was devolved to counties. Even if we are talking about delays in the disbursement of monies from the Exchequer to counties, why are we not addressing the fact that the same counties, some of which received the same fund for disaster management, cannot account for it? Why are we not talking about the OSR? We were legislating on the taxes we collect on infrastructure on commercial buildings. I think it was Sen. Cheruiyot’s Bill that tried to frame the levies that are put on commercial buildings and real estate. No one is asking the hard questions. For instance, all the money that is being collected by Nairobi City County led by our Govevor Sakaja, where it goes because Nairobi has become a swimming pool. How difficult is it for you to clear the drainages? How expensive is it for you to ensure that the drainages that we have in Nairobi are not filled up with all the trash that is there? Madam Temporary Speaker, sometimes I think that we take the conversations to the wrong side. We can literally stand here and say, it is the President's or the national Government’s work. However, if we keep reverting to the national Government, are we also saying that devolution is not working?"},{"id":1405112,"url":"http://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/1405112/?format=json","text_counter":488,"type":"speech","speaker_name":"Sen. Orwoba","speaker_title":"","speaker":null,"content":"The electronic version of the Senate Hansard Report is for information purposesonly. A certified version of this Report can be obtained from the Director, Hansard and AudioServices, Senate."},{"id":1405113,"url":"http://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/1405113/?format=json","text_counter":489,"type":"speech","speaker_name":"Sen. Orwoba","speaker_title":"","speaker":null,"content":"We cannot stand here and ask questions to the governors who have been given the powers, resources and funds. We do not direct the questions to them. I would like to know as a resident of both Kisii and Nairobi City County, why we are swimming in Nairobi yet we pay the highest taxes. Nairobi is a county that collects the highest OSR. However, when these questions are being tabled, we are now going back to say, it is the President. Where is Governor Sakaja? We need to know or is he also stuck somewhere in the floods? We want to know whether he is using the roads that we are using to come to Parliament. Perhaps he is forever in a chopper. I also want to direct these questions that we are directing to the national Government to the Senators in this House because they each come from a county. We have 47 delegations. Let them stand and tell us, for instance, in Machakos County, my governor has done A, B, C and D. Since, they are also receiving disaster management funds. The other question that we are not asking is that they are always wanting funds. Do they have the capacity to deal with resiliency plans? Do they even have resiliency plans? We have been given a tool by the national Government through the Ministry of Interior and National Administration called the Kenya Initial Rapid Assessment (KIRA). This tool is supposed to give capacity to county governments to be able to anticipate and deal with disasters. Yesterday, I heard some of the county officials in Nairobi City County on a television station talking about their plans for disaster management. They were not referencing tools or resiliency plan. Therefore, we cannot keep pushing for money when we cannot even ask the hard questions of where it is going to? Madam Temporary Speaker, the only question I want to ask specifically to Governor Sakaja, how difficult is it to clear the drainages on our roads? How expensive is it because you cannot have Ole Dume, all the areas of Kilimani and Kileleshwa flooding? Where is the money going to? Let us ask the difficult question and let us hold the people responsible, particularly the governors because this is a devolved function. I thank you."},{"id":1405114,"url":"http://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/1405114/?format=json","text_counter":490,"type":"speech","speaker_name":"Sen. Veronica Maina","speaker_title":"The Temporary Speaker","speaker":null,"content":" Thank you, Senator. Proceed, Sen. Maanzo."},{"id":1405115,"url":"http://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/1405115/?format=json","text_counter":491,"type":"speech","speaker_name":"Sen. Maanzo","speaker_title":"","speaker":{"id":13589,"legal_name":"Maanzo Daniel Kitonga","slug":"maanzo-daniel-kitonga"},"content":"Thank you, Madam Temporary Speaker. I rise to support this very important Motion. I want to begin with Nairobi City County and its management who are seized to the fact that there are quite a number of homes built on the riparian parts. I remember when the late Minister, Hon. Michuki was alive. He managed very well the issue of riparian ownership. Currently, the situation is very bad such that people have built homes on waterways or rivers."},{"id":1405116,"url":"http://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/1405116/?format=json","text_counter":492,"type":"speech","speaker_name":"Sen. Maanzo","speaker_title":"","speaker":{"id":13589,"legal_name":"Maanzo Daniel Kitonga","slug":"maanzo-daniel-kitonga"},"content":"The electronic version of the Senate Hansard Report is for information purposesonly. A certified version of this Report can be obtained from the Director, Hansard and AudioServices, Senate."},{"id":1405117,"url":"http://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/1405117/?format=json","text_counter":493,"type":"speech","speaker_name":"Sen. Maanzo","speaker_title":"","speaker":{"id":13589,"legal_name":"Maanzo Daniel Kitonga","slug":"maanzo-daniel-kitonga"},"content":"After a long time when the rains come, then you find the homes or flats flooded. Innocent buyers, those who have leased the property or renting lose their property yet somebody would have avoided building on a riparian land. One time, there was a river which flooded in Nairobi because a building had been built along Mbagathi Way and had blocked the Nairobi River. The Government ordered that building to be brought down yet it had been approved by Nairobi City County officers. Therefore, riparian ownership must be respected. Before you cross River Athi on your way to Machakos, you will see a very big estate which has been built at the left. They have attempted to build a wall to River Athi to prevent the river from crossing over to these very expensive houses. I tell the developers and the people who approved that, that in my history, I have seen River Athi flood very badly around that area, including soaking all the warehouses, which are there. Therefore, the people who are innocently buying those houses must think twice. The Government is responsible for making sure riparian land is respected and the river is allowed to flow on its pathway. The moment you try to block it, it is like the biblical person who built on sand and waited for the rains to wash their house. I am encouraging the residents and people who are buying houses and properties, to please make sure they buy a house which is built on the rock and is not likely to be swept away by the rivers. When you go down to Makueni County, just a few days ago, eight people were washed by a river, where as leadership, we had always proposed a bridge to be built. Budget would be made, but the bridge would never be built.This place is called Kavuthu, somewhere near Emali. When these people were attempting to cross, despite a lot of warnings of floods and sometimes, you could see the raging rivers and it could be dangerous as an individual, to walk into water. Forget about people getting surprised in their houses by flooding waters at night. This issue was so bad that four of these people have never been seen up to today. The Government did very little to help them, although they were coming from a Government’s function. Up to date, four people have never been traced and the families are suffering. We have lobbied the Government to build this bridge so that people would avoid going long places or taking risks to get to their homes The issue of floods is a very serious matter. No one can control nature, but nature and God do not respect corruption. When you build on riparian ownership, whether it is after 100 or 20 years, one day, there will be unusual water and trouble for whoever has built in water paths or near rivers. Going to the international scene, you have seen what has happened in many other parts of the world. Many developed places like America get to flood once in a while. We have seen floods in Europe, Arabia and even in deserts where no one ever expected floods. I challenge our Government to prepare for flooding. We have allocated enough money. Let them clear the pathways and the blockages. I am yet to see what has been done by the Nairobi City County Government. The emergency funds that Nairobi City"},{"id":1405118,"url":"http://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/1405118/?format=json","text_counter":494,"type":"speech","speaker_name":"Sen. Maanzo","speaker_title":"","speaker":{"id":13589,"legal_name":"Maanzo Daniel Kitonga","slug":"maanzo-daniel-kitonga"},"content":"The electronic version of the Senate Hansard Report is for information purposesonly. A certified version of this Report can be obtained from the Director, Hansard and AudioServices, Senate."},{"id":1405119,"url":"http://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/1405119/?format=json","text_counter":495,"type":"speech","speaker_name":"Sen. Maanzo","speaker_title":"","speaker":{"id":13589,"legal_name":"Maanzo Daniel Kitonga","slug":"maanzo-daniel-kitonga"},"content":"County Government and national Government’s have, should make sure that parts of Nairobi are not full of water and we are not swimming as has been alluded on the roads, especially the expressway. It is such a huge danger when the water---"},{"id":1405120,"url":"http://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/1405120/?format=json","text_counter":496,"type":"scene","speaker_name":"","speaker_title":"","speaker":null,"content":"(Sen. Maanzo’s microphone went off)"}]}