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{
    "id": 804903,
    "url": "http://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/804903/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 181,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "Mr. Henry Rotich",
    "speaker_title": "The Cabinet Secretary for the National Treasury",
    "speaker": {
        "id": 13142,
        "legal_name": "Henry Rotich",
        "slug": "henry-rotich"
    },
    "content": "Hon. Speaker, since the commencement of devolution five years ago, it is evident that resources are now closer to the people, decisions are made at the grassroots level and public participation is a requirement at every level of engagement. The over Kshs1.3 trillion that has gone to the counties in the last five years has ensured uninterrupted service delivery by all the 47 county governments. Hon. Speaker, in the Financial Year (FY) 2018/19, we are providing to the counties a further Kshs376.4 billion comprising a sharable revenue of Kshs314 billion and conditional allocations amounting to Kshs62.4 billion. The allocations in 2018/19 translate to 40 percent of most recent audited revenues, well in excess of the constitutional threshold of 15 percent. This will be in addition to funds provided under NG-CDF and National Government Affirmative Action Fund (NGAAF) which, as we all know, goes to the grassroots level, in addition to funds appropriated from the Equalisation Fund. Hon. Speaker, we will be coming back to Parliament with specific projects to be funded from the Equalisation Fund as soon as the Commission on Revenue Allocation develops the second policy on marginalized areas. The previous policy expired in this financial year and there was no basis to prepare appropriation for the Equalization Fund. Hon. Speaker, I wish to highlight three key challenges facing county governments. First, the shrinking county own source revenue collection; second, escalation of expenditure arrears which deny local businesses the necessary capital to support growth, and third, weaknesses in public financial management, exposing county public finances to leakage and wasteful spending. Hon. Speaker, to support county governments to improve revenue collection, we have finalised a policy to support the enhancement of county own source revenue. We have also prepared the County Governments Revenue Raising Regulation Process Bill, 2018 which provides for regulation of the process of introducing new taxes, fees and charges by county governments. This is intended to address the concerns of double-taxation as goods and services move from one county to the next and is consistent with Article 209 of the Constitution, which prohibits revenue raising measures which impede the movement of goods and services within Kenya. I will shortly be submitting those two documents to Parliament for consideration and approval, upon Cabinet approval. Hon. Speaker, to stop the growth of expenditure arrears in counties, we have agreed with the county governments that all pending bills shall be subjected to verification. Once authenticated, the arrears shall be included in the budget as a first charge on the respective county revenue funds as required under the Public Finance Management (County Governments) Regulations, 2015. I urge county assemblies and Parliament to assist us by enforcing this agreement. To strengthen the capacity of county governments to manage public finances, human resources, as well as to monitor and evaluate county plans and conduct civic education and engage with the general public, I have allocated Kshs800 million under the World Bank The electronic version of the Official Hansard Report is for information purposes only. Acertified version of this Report can be obtained from the Hansard Editor."
}