{"count":1608389,"next":"http://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/?format=json&page=147683","previous":"http://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/?format=json&page=147681","results":[{"id":1495012,"url":"http://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/1495012/?format=json","text_counter":138,"type":"speech","speaker_name":"Sen. Kathuri","speaker_title":"The Deputy Speaker","speaker":{"id":13590,"legal_name":"Murungi Kathuri","slug":"murungi-kathuri"},"content":" Okay. Last but not least, Sen. Onyonka Richard proceed."},{"id":1495013,"url":"http://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/1495013/?format=json","text_counter":139,"type":"speech","speaker_name":"Sen. Onyonka","speaker_title":"","speaker":{"id":13592,"legal_name":"Onyonka Richard Momoima","slug":"onyonka-richard-momoima"},"content":"Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir, thank you for giving me this opportunity to say a few things about this Bill. I am extremely excited about the Senate as a House because we are now becoming proactive. Many of us have been raising the issues and discussing why the county governments and the county assemblies look like they are all operating in a dysfunctional manner that is deliberately skewed to make sure that MCAs do not get a working environment that is comfortable for them and that will be responsive to the needs of the public. Sometimes, their salaries are delayed and not because the exchequer has not released the money. It is because you find that the MCAs are beginning to plod and investigate some of the things, which many of our governors are doing pertaining to financial mismanagement or management. The scenario you have is that the governors sometimes have ended up being punitive. Where sometimes, the salaries of many of these MCAs are. Also, they delay the release of funds which the Government has issued for these MCAs to even buy cars and get mortgages for themselves. This Bill is good and will cure one of the issues that we have been struggling with as a House. I am proud of you because as my colleagues have said, this is a well-thought- out Bill. The only thing I have seen in the Bill is that Sen. Osotsi also raised this issue. We do not need the CoB to permit the money to be transferred into the new account that will be set up within the county assembly. That can be done electronically and you do not need somebody to leave Kisii to head to Nairobi to come and persuade the directors and the members of the CoB Office to release the money to the county assemblies. However, I believe that due diligence will be followed. Secondly, the other law that we need to look at and that we must begin to investigate is the law about ward funds. There is opposition from the governors because they believe that ward funds should not be given to the MCAs for oversight. Why? The governors believe that once you control the money, then it is easy for you to control the MCAs so that they can deliberately start playing the games they play right now where you find there is no oversight. The governor walks around with MCAs singing and saying 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":1495014,"url":"http://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/1495014/?format=json","text_counter":140,"type":"speech","speaker_name":"Sen. Onyonka","speaker_title":"","speaker":{"id":13592,"legal_name":"Onyonka Richard Momoima","slug":"onyonka-richard-momoima"},"content":"how he is doing a wonderful job and yet you find there are no medicines, no running water and roads are being done poorly. Another matter that I want us to discuss as soon as possible is that some of our governors, like my governor, have brought in Chinese people who are cutting trees in the whole of Kisii County. The assembly has not sat to decide whether they would have authorised such an activity to take place. As I speak, the Department of Environment has not told us what their forest cover is. You remember the President pronounced himself that we are no longer exporters of raw materials. The Chinese have come; they are cutting the trees and putting them into boxes where Sen. (Dr.) Khalwale cuts the trees into small pieces put them into something that looks like containers and takes them to China, so that they can be put into some other process of value addition. They are shipped to Europe and America as if it is African wood that has left the African continent. Soon, we will start mitigating and discussing how Kisii County has become a desert field and how the trees have been cut. I can tell you that the information I have is that these Chinese individuals who are doing this are from Molo. They ran down to Bomet, Kericho, and Kisii counties. I am told they are moving to Homa Bay, Trans Nzoia, and Uasin Gishu counties. You can imagine what such things mean to our country. I hope that this House will be engaged so that we can begin to look at the issues affecting Kenyans. I persuade my colleagues in this House that we make sure we give the MCAs the responsibility of having ward funds, which are directly going to be released to their wards. The money does not need the governor's interruption for the funds to be released. So long as the County Integrated Development Plan (CIDP) has passed and the money is in the Consolidated Fund. Electronically, the sub-county accounts, the sub-county procurement officer and the sub-county county government workers can then be now happy that at least funds are coming to the local level where these funds need to be. I believe that this House has carried itself with the dignity it requires to the level where Kenyans are willing to give us the support to make sure that we keep changing the law effectively. We close out the loopholes that, for example, have made the Public Finance Management (PFM) Act nearly obsolete. Remember, we rely on the Integrated Financial Management System (IFMIS) as our financial platform. There are also challenges with that. We are experiencing a shortfall in exchequer releases from the National Treasury. We need to sort out that issue. If the funds are not released from the National Treasury, we should ask what we should do about it. With those few remarks, I thank you and support this Bill. I think it will cure what many of us have been asking for."},{"id":1495015,"url":"http://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/1495015/?format=json","text_counter":141,"type":"speech","speaker_name":"Sen. Kathuri","speaker_title":"The Deputy Speaker","speaker":{"id":13590,"legal_name":"Murungi Kathuri","slug":"murungi-kathuri"},"content":" At this juncture, I will call the Mover to reply. There is no other Senator interested to debate on this Bill. Senate Majority Leader proceed."},{"id":1495016,"url":"http://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/1495016/?format=json","text_counter":142,"type":"speech","speaker_name":"Sen. Cheruiyot","speaker_title":"The Senate Majority Leader","speaker":{"id":13165,"legal_name":"Aaron Kipkirui Cheruiyot","slug":"aaron-cheruiyot"},"content":" Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir, and jointly the sponsor of this very important Bill, I celebrate your work. I did this only because I felt the need to actually assist you, having done the heavier task of bringing the 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":1495017,"url":"http://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/1495017/?format=json","text_counter":143,"type":"speech","speaker_name":"Sen. Cheruiyot","speaker_title":"The Senate Majority Leader","speaker":{"id":13165,"legal_name":"Aaron Kipkirui Cheruiyot","slug":"aaron-cheruiyot"},"content":"Bill together and initially moving the House to debate. A record 28 Senators have spoken---"},{"id":1495018,"url":"http://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/1495018/?format=json","text_counter":144,"type":"speech","speaker_name":"Sen. Kathuri","speaker_title":"The Deputy Speaker","speaker":{"id":13590,"legal_name":"Murungi Kathuri","slug":"murungi-kathuri"},"content":" Senate Majority Leader, you did not do anything wrong. I know you are also very passionate about this Bill. Therefore, I can also decide to call you a co-sponsor if you talk to me nicely so that the Bill can also bear your name."},{"id":1495019,"url":"http://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/1495019/?format=json","text_counter":145,"type":"speech","speaker_name":"Sen. Cheruiyot","speaker_title":"The Senate Majority Leader","speaker":{"id":13165,"legal_name":"Aaron Kipkirui Cheruiyot","slug":"aaron-cheruiyot"},"content":" Thank you. Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir, you were not here but in my moving notes, I said that this is justice to the county assemblies. In 2016, at the Pride Inn Paradise Beach Resort and Spa, if I am not wrong, we had the inaugural Legislative Summit, which brings together Members of County Assembly (MCAs) and the Senate. Part of the takeaways from that Summit, Sen. Onyonka, was that we were going to do this for our county assemblies. It has taken us a freaking eight years to do this for them. It is completely unfair. I really hope that we can conclude on this, preferably tomorrow. I did not see any of the whips of the Minority side, but I see Sen. (Dr.) Khalwale is here. I am sure they have their own caucus of whips of the Senate. If they can, they should rally numbers, so that tomorrow afternoon, we put this to a vote alongside other Bills. We should conclude on it by putting together the amendments that are needed and before we break for recess, have the National Assembly begin to consider it. At least, if there is any chance that our colleagues in the National Assembly can equally be pushed, and I will personally take the initiative to prioritize on this Bill; it will be extremely important so that at the very worst, this be the last financial year that MCAs have to withstand this very embarrassing scenario that has been described here. This is not the devolution that the late Dr. Chrispin Odhiambo Mbai envisioned for this country. I am sure when they sat down as a technical committee that worked on the chapter of devolution in our Constitution, they expected better. This is not what they expected of our county assemblies. I know there is a lot more given that they did not expect on the Executive side. While we fix the Executive, we must also aid our county assemblies to perform their duties without any hindrance. Therefore, I thank you and all the 28 Senators that have spoken to this Bill. I believe that their contribution has not been in vain. When all is said and done, we will all look back with pride when we write our exit report of the 13th Parliament as Members of the Fourth Senate, and proudly put this as one of the hallmarks of our legislative work. I do not know why we have not had any legislative conferences with our MCAs so far, but I believe when we resume, we will be proud of this job that we will have done by then. Thank you, Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir, and all the colleagues that have spoken to this. I appreciate it. With those very many remarks, I beg to reply. Finally, in accordance with Standing Order No.66(3), I request that the putting of the question be deferred until a later date. I thank you. 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":1495020,"url":"http://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/1495020/?format=json","text_counter":146,"type":"speech","speaker_name":"Sen. Kathuri","speaker_title":"The Deputy Speaker","speaker":{"id":13590,"legal_name":"Murungi Kathuri","slug":"murungi-kathuri"},"content":" Thank you, Senate Majority Leader. Clerk, let us move to the next Order."},{"id":1495021,"url":"http://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/1495021/?format=json","text_counter":147,"type":"scene","speaker_name":"","speaker_title":"","speaker":null,"content":"(The Clerk-at-the-Table consulted the Chair)"}]}