REMARKS OF HON. JAMES ORENGO DURING THE 4TH ANNUAL LEGISLATIVE SUMMIT IN KISUMU COUNTY
Hon. Speaker of the Senate, Kenneth Lusaka, the CS Devolution, the Governor of Kisumu County, the chairman of County Assemblies Mr. Osoi, Senator for Kisumu, majority leader in the senate, members of the County Assemblies, ladies and gentlemen good afternoon.
The first thing I want to say is that the importance and effectiveness of this summit will only occur when the resolutions are implemented or when they become actionable. So far this summit is becoming a talk show. I don’t want to cheat you that the promises are going to be implemented. We must learn from the council of governors because what they say and resolve tend to happen. What we do here yearly are resolutions. The first business that we must do at the end of this summit is to have a working group given two or three months to come up with a legislative framework to ensure that the summit is a statutory body. Under the intergovernmental relation act the council of Governors is a statutory body which is recognized in law. Under the act the governors and the president have statutory functions which are laid clearly in law.
I am hoping that even before we go into individual statutes that you want the senate or the national assembly to pass, we should have a legal framework forum so that it’s called a truly legislative forum. I also want to urge that it’s not enough for the senate and the county assemblies to meet; I think it should include the national assembly too.
My second point is that county assemblies are parliaments. They come in the same article that provides for the national assembly and the senate; article 1 of the constitution. The constitution requires that parliaments be given adequate services and facilities in order to carry out their work effectively. We need that framework so that we can sit together and agree on the minimum requirements for the county assemblies to do their work effectively in a manner that would bring results to the people of Kenya across the board moving forward with the national assembly and senate.
Thirdly, the question of autonomy for the county assemblies is important. We have to ensure that the county assemblies have their own autonomy financially and the treasury should not be an imperial power governing county governments and county assemblies.
I end up by saying that I am a supporter of gender equality and people with disabilities. We need more women in county assemblies, national assembly and senate and you will see the desired change coming to Kenya faster than it has been coming.
Thank you very much.
Monday, 15 April 2019
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