Residents of Turkana County are expected to get a chance of witnessing the Senate proceedings which will be held in the county on Monday and Tuesday this week.
The Senate will hold its normal sittings at the Turkana County Assembly similar to how it conducts the sittings at the Parliament Buildings in Nairobi City County, between September 25 and 26, 2023.
Aside from the plenary proceedings, the Senate has also scheduled a number of Senate Standing Committees` meetings where the Senators will deliberate on key issues affecting the nation and specific issues concerning Turkana County.
The Senate Standing Committee on Energy, Standing Committee on Agriculture, Livestock and Fisheries, Standing Committee on Health, Standing Committee on National Security, Defence and Foreign Relations, Standing Committee on National Cohesion, Equal Opportunity and Regional Integration will all hold meetings from Turkana County during the Senate Mashinani week.
Other committees are the County Public Accounts Committee (CPAC), Education, Lands, Environment and Natural resources, Information and Communication Technology.
The County Public Accounts Committee will meet the Turkana County officials to deliberate on the report by the Auditor-General in the financial year 2020/21, while the Standing Committee on Energy will hold its meeting with the Management of Lake Turkana Wind Power besides meeting local leaders.
The Standing Committee on Agriculture, Livestock and Fisheries will visit Katilu Irrigation project while the Standing Committee on Health will hold meetings with among others the Cabinet Secretary, Ministry of Health Susan Nakhumicha, Chairperson Council of Governors, National Hospital Insurance Fund chief executive officer, Chairperson Kenya Healthcare Federation, Chairperson Rural Private Hospitals Association of Kenya and Country Representative UNICEF.
Other stakeholders include the Country Director AMREF Kenya, Health NGOs Network Chairperson and the Christian Health Association of Kenya.
The Committee will receive submissions on the Facilities Improvement Financing Bill (Senate Bills No. 43 of 2023) and the Primary Health Care Bill (Senate Bills No. 44 of 2023).
The Standing Committee on National Security, Defence and Foreign Relations will hold a meeting with the Commander, Rural Border Patrol Unit and its Counterpart Committee of the County Assembly of Turkana to deliberate on the challenges faced in the implementation of security along the Kenya border.
In addition, the committee will meet the County Security Personnel to deliberate on the status of security in Turkana County, the incessant cattle rustling and banditry in the area and the role of the National Police Reservists in complimenting the security apparatus in the County.
During Senate Mashinani, Senators will have an opportunity to tour a number of projects in Turkana County to get views on the fruits of Devolution especially to local residents.
They will visit Lodwar County and Referral Hospital, the Turkana Education Assessment and Resource Centre (EARC), Tullow Oil Company, the Lodwar Vocational Training Centre and the Turkana Fisheries Cooperative, Kalokol.
Aside from meetings and visits, the Legislators and the Senate staff will get a chance for benchmarking between the Senate and Turkana County Assembly.
This year`s Senate sitting outside Nairobi is the third of its kind to be organised in Kenya since its inception.
The first one was held at Uasin Gishu County while the second was held at Kitui County in 2018 and 2019 respectively.
In April this year, the Senate unanimously approved a motion to hold its sittings in Turkana County paving way for thorough preparations steered by the House leadership.
The main aim of holding sittings outside Nairobi is to give Kenyans at the County level an opportunity to understand the role of the Senate, the benefits and challenges of Devolution.
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