16 Nov 2021 in Senate:
The forum shall also consider the views of the county government on the Division of Revenue Bill and County Allocation of Revenue Bill before enactment and on proposed withdrawals from the Equalization Fund. Madam Deputy Speaker, that agenda is not developmental. It does not offend what the High Court said. It is consultative. We are consulting and harmonizing. We are making sure that what the national Government, county governments and Members of Parliament (MPs), who hold funds representing the national government do, is harmonized so that we do not have unnecessary wastage and duplication. There would be practical challenges, for ...
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16 Nov 2021 in Senate:
Madam Deputy Speaker, a governor who refuses to call other leaders to a consultative forum, at least, once every year, upon conviction, should find themselves impeachable. We also want the annual performance report to come to the Senate. There are questions on how to process it. However, this should not be a big deal. This is because the annual financial report is already being processed by the relevant Committees of this House. This could be the mandate of select or established Committees. It is important not to count the coins from counties and look at the impact. That is when ...
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16 Nov 2021 in Senate:
Mr. Temporary Speaker, Sir, I would like to thank the distinguished Senators who have contributed to this amendment Bill. Sen. Kasanga for seconding it, Sen. Olekina for passionately supporting it. Sen. (Prof.) Kamar, Sen. Were, and Sen. (Eng.) Hargura. These Senators have given useful suggestions that we shall take into account as the Bill progresses to its final consideration. I dare say, that the Senator for Samburu County has also whispered certain issues that we need to take into consideration to ensure that the County Leaders Forum (CLF) becomes practical. Article 96 definitely cannot be read in isolation. It has ...
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16 Nov 2021 in Senate:
whereas the interest of the county government is efficient delivery in services. It is because of that, that we have proposed that we have this County Leaders Forum. Sen. (Eng.) Hargura having been here in the last Parliament has recalled some of the cynicism that greeted this Bill in its original form when Sen. Sang’ brought it up. He has also expressed his fears that the Council of Governors (CoG) will quickly rush to court to seek to defeat this amendment. Mr. Temporary Speaker, Sir, as somebody said, I think it was Sen. Olekina that the guilty are always afraid. ...
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16 Nov 2021 in Senate:
be coordinated by the County Commissioner. That is why we are saying the County Commissioner should be part of this conversation. In every county, you will find the ministry responsible for water will be sinking boreholes, doing water pans, and interventions in the water sector. Mr. Temporary Speaker, Sir, the water sector is an area that also needs to be looked at to be in line with the new constitutional dispensation. We have all these water corporations in every region. Lake Victoria South, Lake Victoria South and all these legacy corporations. Where are the county governments who ideally should have ...
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16 Nov 2021 in Senate:
What do we want to achieve with this annual performance report? Initially we based our audit and oversight on financial performance. Counties have mastered the game. They know how to get unqualified opinions. In Chinua Achebe’s Things FallApart, Eneke the bird says that since men have learned to shoot without missing, he has learned to fly without perching. Mr. Temporary Speaker, Sir that is what is happening in our county governments. It is a combination of accrued experience. Let me deal with the positive side. We have finance officers in our county governments who have been in those offices since ...
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16 Nov 2021 in Senate:
What will be the role of the deputy governor in the County Leaders Forum (CLF)? I have heard a suggestion that we should probably incorporate the deputy governor in the CLF. That is fine as long as we do not have a situation where the governor absents himself for the deputy governor to chair. It is clear that in the absence of the substantive governor, the vice chair, who is the Senator, shall chair the CLF.
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16 Nov 2021 in Senate:
Mr. Temporary Speaker, Sir, I think that we can carry along the deputy governors. They came to the Committee on Devolution and Intergovernmental Relations saying that they want to have something substantive for them to do. This is probably a way of ensuring that we understand what is going on in the county. Sen. Were asked about why we should be so prescriptive on the issue of the deputy speaker. I think that Sen. (Eng.) Hargura said that the CPAIC is now insisting that the vice chair of the County Assembly Service Board (CASB) is the one who represents the ...
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16 Nov 2021 in Senate:
There has been this mischief of impeachment for a day, which Sen. (Prof.) Kamar talked about. The speaker is impeached for a day so that the necessary changes can be made by the deputy speaker. By the time the speaker comes back, he or she finds that the clerk, finance officers and everybody else who was seen to be favourable to them have been kicked out.
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16 Nov 2021 in Senate:
Mr. Temporary Speaker, Sir, even though the law is not explicit, the assumption is that the vice chair will take over in the absence of the substantive chair. Unfortunately, the deputy speakers have interpreted it to mean that where the speaker has been impeached, the deputy speaker acting as the speaker should, therefore, continue acting as the chair of the CASB. We just want to ensure that that ambiguity does not exist and that the CAF in in agreement with this amendment.
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