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{
    "id": 807266,
    "url": "http://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/807266/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 227,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "Kipipiri, JP",
    "speaker_title": "Hon. Amos Kimunya",
    "speaker": {
        "id": 174,
        "legal_name": "Amos Muhinga Kimunya",
        "slug": "amos-kimunya"
    },
    "content": "very important. We are talking of Kshs314 billion going to the counties, in addition to the other conditional grants. Of utmost importance - because I do not have enough time to go through all the various issues - when you look at the distribution schedule for this Kshs314 billion across the entire population of 45 million Kenyans in the country, you see major disparities. You look at one county receiving Kshs10 billion while another receives Kshs4 billion. The populations of those two counties are basically the same. Those are the discussions we should be having in this House so that we can interrogate the work that the Senate is doing when they agree on a formula that allows one county to receive an allocation of Kshs3 or Kshs4 billion. Laikipia is receiving Kshs4.1 billion and Nyandarua, Kshs4.9 billion. Mandera is receiving Kshs10.14 billion in addition to other grants under the Equalisation Fund. Turkana County is receiving Kshs10.8 billion plus 25 per cent of the oil revenues. Where is the equity in the distribution of money in this country? This is the conversation we should be having in this country as the National Assembly. By trying to curtail the debate on this without interrogating these figures, we are basically letting the Senate go scot-free with a poor formula that discriminates between the various counties. The people of Kenya are equal. The Constitution envisaged a situation where people would get equitable distribution of those resources. That is why you find some counties are growing and others are stagnating because they are presumed to have had money in the past. Tharaka Nithi County is known for being a rich county. It is only receiving Kshs3.64 billion. Tharaka Nithi does not even have county headquarters just like Nyandarua yet counties that were developed and have been developed over the years have now been granted billions in double digit figures. Even as we look at those things, I do not want us to say we will not pass the Bill. I support it. But let this be an eye opener that we need to interrogate the formula. It is now 2018. We started this experiment in 2010. It is time we started interrogating that formula and got the Commission on Revenue Allocation to convince us how, if all those monies have been taken to all the counties, we have not seen the development that we expect in Turkana. After eight years, about Kshs80 billion has gone there yet we have not seen it. The per capita distribution of Kshs314 billion across the 45 million Kenyans works out to about Ksh7,000 per Kenyan. In Nyandarua, the population is receiving Kshs6,000 per capita. Where is the equity in this country? It is time we started interrogating that. I would like to urge the Budget and Appropriations Committee, the Committee that oversees the CRA and this House to pay special attention to this formula that is creating the discrimination in the allocation of resources across the various counties in this country. We got it right on NG-CDF and the roads money by stipulating that all counties are equal and should be given equal amounts of money. We should move as quickly as possible to achieve the same parity in the distribution of money to the counties then we will see the whole country achieve growth and development as one. I am aware that the Senate has obviously been doing work based on the limited mandate."
}