Hon Speaker
Hon. Andrew Mkhisa Wanyonyi
Honorable Members, distinguished guests, ladies and gentlemen.
It gives me great pleasure as I Stand before you to usher in the 3rd County Assembly of this Honorable house.
I pay special tribute to you all the honorable members for giving me this humble opportunity to serve as your Third Speaker of our County.
I would like to take this momentous opportunity to congratulate all the elected leaders in our County, starting with His Excellency the Governor and his deputy, the honorable Senator, Honorable Member of Parliament and indeed the Honorable members of this county assembly. I wish to congratulate the people of Trans Nzoia County for conducting a peaceful general election on the 9th August 2022.
Honorable members let us all thank and appreciate the 1st and 2nd Assembly despite the challenges of being the Pioneer House, they laid a firm foundation for this institution.
I also want to in a special way to thank and congratulate the elected ladies, who fought a brave battle and won. I wish to also congratulate and welcome all the nominated members of this assembly and wish them all the best as they discharge their mandate.
Honorable Members Ladies and gentlemen, today marks the beginning of a new era; a great and tremendous season of five years ahead of us.
we must appreciate at the beginning of our journey as the people’s representatives that our County is a unique one in the sense that our County is comprised of all the diverse faces of Kenya in terms of race, ethnicity, Religion and so forth. Our first and foremost duty under my stewardship shall be ensuring the cohesion and integration of our people through our constitutional mandate of representation. Every category among the people of Trans Nzoia must be represented in every aspect of governance in our great County.
In the discharge of our oversight mandate, we must ensure that all public appointments reflect the beautiful and true face of Trans Nzoia. We must ensure that development programmes shall affect and reach every corner of our County.
Honorable Members, as you are all aware this house is indeed a legislature assembly. Our core calling is therefore our legislative mandate. To this end my leadership shall spare no effort and we shall leave no stone unturned in ensuring that we pass every possible and necessary legislation that shall help the County Government improve the livelihood of our people.
In all these, our unity as a house shall be the cornerstone of our strength. We should therefore set aside our political inclinations so that we face our challenges as a united front. We must all live truly to the oaths we have just taken, these oaths are binding on all of us and we have no option in abiding by them in discharge of our mandate.
Our functions and mandates are well elaborate under Article 185 and the fourth schedule of our Constitution 2010;-.
Honorable Members, Ladies and Gentlemen, Kenyans did recognize in the Preamble to our constitution their aspirations for a government based on the essential values of human rights, equality, freedom, democracy, social justice and the rule of law. Article 10 of the Constitution then provided for the National Values and Principles of Governance. These values and Principles bind all state organs, State officers, public officers and all persons whenever any of them;-
“A house divided against itself cannot stand” .I know there are of course times when Honorable members may be tempted to take partisan or party positions, but such positions must be intended for the common good of our people and not for the perpetuation of sectarian or selfish interests. I, therefore, urge the members to always put the common good of our people above our political interests.
In the discharge of our duties we must carry ourselves out with the highest levels of decorum so that we do not bring the authority and dignity of assembly into disrepute and public disapproval.
Honorable Members, beyond the membership of this County Assembly, out there in 25 wards, there are people we are now going to serve, who can tell what deep and unspoken hopes are in their hearts this morning as they usher in the 2nd Assembly of their County. We should not, therefore, squander this momentous opportunity and fail to redefine our collective responsibility for the sake of the common good of the people of our county. The voice of reason must henceforth overcome the overtones of division, despair and hopelessness.
The Bible says in the Book of Ecclesiastes 7:8;-
“Better is the end of a thing than its beginning, and the patient in spirit is better than the proud in spirit.”
Our mandate is for just 5 years. The year 2022 A.D. is just at the corner. Let’s serve in humility for in a short while we shall be required to account for our five years on Tuesday 10th August 2027.
I wish you every best of success in all your endeavors. May the peace of God that surpasses all understanding guide us all.
Thank you all.
Hon Speaker.
