The Speaker has urged leaders to desist from sideshows, power games, retrogressive politics and posturing, that tend to delay grand development plans.
Honorable Members of the County Assembly, distinguished guests, all protocol observed, ladies and gentlemen, it gives me great pleasure to speak with you today as your new County Assembly Speaker. This is indeed a special day for me, my family, this County Assembly and the County at large.
I want to thank each and every member of this Third Assembly for having elected me. I appreciate you all for having confidence in me and bestowing the enormous task on me to be your speaker. It is a task guided by the counsel of God and advice from you that I am prepared for. I am fully aware of not only the honor bestowed upon me but also the responsibilities of leading this important institution of devolved governance.
Honorable Members, I assure you that your trust will not be in vain, I will carry out my duties as Speaker in a manner that befits your trust and the letter and spirit of our Constitution.
Hon Members, allow me to profoundly thank the immediate former Speaker of this Hon Assembly, the Hon Johnson Osoi. A man of vision, acumen, resilience and a brilliant son of this great county. The Hon Osoi has been the first speaker of this County Assembly, he has steered the assembly since the advent of devolution. He has led the assembly through two different governments both with its own peculiarities and different challenges.
Hon Osoi’s great leadership skills were also recognized nationally and was elected by al the 47 county assemblies as the chair of the County Assemblies Forum for two terms in a row. He is a man that I will struggle to fit into his shoes. May God bless you and prolong your life. May you find favor to continue serving the people of this great country in other capacities.
Honouraable members, allow me to also recognize the great staff of these county assembly who I know you agree with me, that they are highly professional and disciplined. Led by the clerk of this Assembly, the team has always exhibited tremendous energy and pride in their work. As your speaker, I wish to take this first opportunity to thank you and say that I am very proud to work with such a dedicated team. My administration commits to always go out of its way to support you in you work so that we all get a chance to make our individual contribution to the mandate of the County assembly and the County in general.
Honourable Members, the devolution journey started in 2010 when the Constitution of Kenya, 2010 was promulgated. The people of Kenya voted to have services devolved as closer to the people as possible. The legislature was devolved to the County level and as a result we enjoy the fruits of that Constitution as an Assembly created by that very document.
I stand before you today to share with you the joy of being a servant of the people of Kajiado County and our beloved Country Kenya for the next five years. It is a joy because of the opportunity to us individually and collectively as Members and the Assembly as an institution to make meaningful change to the lives of the people of Kajiado County. It is an opportunity that is twofold; we can utilize it positively, or negatively. The aspirations of the people who delegated their sovereign authority to us is for us to utilize the opportunity positively and give them reason why after the next five years they should go back to the ballot and elect us back to office.
Honourable Members, The Constitution of Kenya under Article 185 stipulates the functions of the County Assembly as follows;
Legislative role;
Honourable Members; The constitution gives this Assembly powers to make laws that are necessary for, or incidental to the effective performance of functions and exercise of powers of County Governments under the Fourth Schedule of the Constitution. We must ensure that any legislation we pass as an Assembly will be value adding to the people of this great County.
Honourable Members, to ensure that we produce quality legislations that can impact our County positively we must pay extra attention to the legislative agenda of this House.
Oversight role;
Honourable Members, the County Assembly is bestowed with the oversight function over the County Executive and County Executive entities. It is a duty that I will endeavor to support the County Assembly in, so that the quality of oversight is above board. It will be a function that will be exercised while respecting
the cardinal Constitutional law principle of separation of powers to ensure that the County Executive is left to perform its function without interference from the Assembly but legally held accountable for actions or omissions as required by law.
Representation role:
Honourable Members; as your Speaker, I shall strive to offer each and every Member a humble opportunity to adequately raise issues of concern to the people you represent both in the plenary and also in the committees. I am aware that each Member is here by virtue of being elected or nominated to represent a specific constituency or category of people.
Together, we colligate to represent the entire constituency of Kajiado County. It is a duty we have no other option but to succeed in. On expiry of the next five years our scorecard will have been published by the electorate. We will collectively and individually be judged for how best we represented this noble constituency. The electorate will make decisions that will affect each one of us individually and as an Assembly. It is my intention to work towards an envisioned success so that each one of us, share the same.
Honourable Members, the journey of the Third Kajiado County Assembly begins today. As we take off, I kindly request each one of you to fasten your seat belts in readiness for our journey of destiny. A journey through turbulent and smooth space of legislation where we cruise and land together in five years’ time AND maybe, depart individually to our future endeavors. As we take the journey let us remain united for, divided we ditch the plane but united we assist each other in maneuvering turbulence and enjoy together when the ride is smooth.
Honourable Members, Kajiado Constituents are eager to move forward in building this County. We need to desist from sideshows, power games, retrogressive politics and posturing, that tend to delay our grand development plans. Let us be progressively flexible and avoid rigid positions. In this regard therefore, I urge all of us to summon a new spirit of patriotism and responsibility, where each one of us resolves to pitch in and work harder, smarter and faster, to ensure that our people have a better quality of life in their life time.
Honourable Members, healthy debates and critiquing each other’s policies are part of a lively parliamentary process. It is however important that Members remain conscious that their interaction with each other does not create a perception in society that would divide our County into polarized political positions.
I am not propagating for ‘must support’ debates in the assembly, but I am raising the need to be aware of our influence on the public as their representatives.
Let each one of us therefore represent our people with dignity, purpose and honour. Let the Assembly continue to be a living embodiment of nation-building, purpose, solidarity and unity.
Honourable Members, as your Speaker, I will fervently preserve the powers, privileges and immunities of this House, without which, optimal performance would greatly be compromised.
As I conclude, I wish to promise full support from my office to the Honorable Members and Staff of the County Assembly in order to enable you perform your functions and deliver on the mandates bestowed on you. I will do my best to capacity build, and provide you with necessary infrastructure so that the quality of work output from this Assembly is one among the best in the region and the Country.
On that same note, I urge for the full co-operation of all in this noble journey. It will not be possible to do it alone. I need the support of the members, staff and other stakeholders, for a better tomorrow, we all need each other.
Honourable Members, in the coming days, months and years, I look forward to working with the leadership of the political parties in the assembly to ensure that the County Assembly remains a vibrant and strong, People’s Assembly. A guide-post for nation- building and transformation Assembly that all Kajiado County Constituents are truly proud of.
Honourable Members, my administration endevours to implement the county assembly’s strategic plan for 2022-2026. I am also going to champion the completion of the new County assembly chambers to enable you have proper and modern working spaces.
Honourable Members, in order to move with the current world and make the assembly a first-class legislature, it will be important to ensure that the assembly is digitized more so, as we plan for completion of the ultra-modern debating chambers. This will also require for the upgrading of the hansard system as well as necessary infrastructure to support committee activities in committee rooms.
I therefore Hon, Members wish to request for your support in meeting those aspirations.
Honourable Members, we are alive to the realities of the just concluded general election and how it has impacted our Assembly. I am aware that out of the 41 Members of the Second Assembly, only 4 were re-elected into this house. This represents an attrition rate of 90% the highest this far. With this in mind, it calls for reflection by each and every member of this assembly to try to understand the reasons behind this very high attrition rate. Collectively, we need to work for the betterment of the electorates and more so to do things differently from how they used to be done. Secondly, this brings to bare the need for proper capacity building of the members 90% of which are new so that they understand both their mandate and also how best they can execute such mandate. All is not lost in this regard, since our highly trained technical team of clerks, whose technical expertise will be so highly depended on to run committees and the plenary sessions of this assembly. As your speaker, I will do my best to capacity build all of you to ensure that you effectively execute that mandate.
With those few remarks, I wish once again to thank you profusely for this noble opportunity that you have accorded me to serve you. I wish to thank God for His grace and mercy for allowing me to be your Speaker.
As I conclude I would like to thank my lovely spouse, children and family for the support they have given me. May God bless you all and may God bless Kajiado County and the Republic of Kenya.
