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"content": "[The Temporary Speaker (Sen. Abdul Haji) in the Chair]"
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"type": "speech",
"speaker_name": "Sen. Wamatinga",
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"legal_name": "Wahome Wamatinga",
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"content": "The electronic version of the Senate Hansard Report is for information purposesonly. A certified version of this Report can be obtained from the Director, Hansard and AudioServices, Senate."
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"id": 1502674,
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"type": "speech",
"speaker_name": "Sen. Wamatinga",
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"content": "Mr. Temporary Speaker, Sir, I agree with my colleagues that county governments do not have a framework that the national Government enjoys having such as entering into Public Private Partnerships (PPPs). We must also have a paradigm shift in the way we look at things. In some of our counties, especially in the agricultural sector, when it comes to water reticulation, the units are so little that they cannot achieve economies of scale. Therefore, this calls for a collaboration between counties and the national Government, so that they can realise some of the mega projects that have been conceptualised. We were promised mega dams in Nyeri, but we have been waiting for the past 60 years. With the kind of budgetary allocation that they require, the county government will never realise that because of its limited resources. That opens the door for us to negotiate with the national Government and neighbouring counties. As we enter into PPPs to realise these mega dams that can serve multiple counties, we can achieve economies of scale by making sure that we have enough numbers. My colleague also alluded to the fact that water reticulation is a major issue because of the old infrastructure. Truth be told, we have non-revenue water. That is water that is lost through pipes bursting or is siphoned. In some counties, we lose up to 70 per cent. If we can harness non-revenue water that we harvest and ensure it is supplied to households, we will have solved 70 per cent of our water challenges. It is the same case with agriculture. We have a few agricultural extension officers in some counties. We need to bring together economic blocs, so that it makes economic sense to have agricultural extension officers in all counties to enhance research. Most importantly, we need to ensure that we deliver by bringing services closer to the people. This can only be done through collaboration by national and county governments and formation of regional blocs, so that economies of scale and the numbers attract investors in this country. Before I sit down, Mr. Temporary Speaker, Sir, I want to commend the Mediation Committee that comprised both Senators and Members of the National Assembly for being selfless in the spirit of giving and taking to ensure that we came up with this mediated version, which I urge my colleagues to support. Moving forward, we need to up our game even in the collection of own source revenue in the county governments and ensure that we seal leakages and loopholes. Most importantly, we need to do more to improve governance, accountability and transparency, so that services are delivered promptly to our people. Mr. Temporary Speaker, Sir, I support."
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"speaker_name": "Sen. Abdul Haji",
"speaker_title": "The Temporary Speaker",
"speaker": null,
"content": " Sen. Karungo Thang’wa, you have the Floor."
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"type": "speech",
"speaker_name": "Sen. Thang’wa",
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"content": "Mr. Temporary Speaker, Sir, from the onset, I do not agree with this report because as you are aware, this House approved Kshs400 billion to go to the counties. I do not know whether I am audible enough. Perhaps I should move closer to you."
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"type": "speech",
"speaker_name": "Sen. Abdul Haji",
"speaker_title": "The Temporary Speaker",
"speaker": null,
"content": " Senator, it is okay, but you were audible enough. The electronic version of the Senate Hansard Report is for information purposesonly. A certified version of this Report can be obtained from the Director, Hansard and AudioServices, Senate."
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"id": 1502678,
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"speaker": null,
"content": "(Sen. Thang’wa moved to the Dispatch Desk)"
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"type": "speech",
"speaker_name": "Sen. Thang’wa",
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"content": "Thank you very much, Mr. Temporary Speaker, Sir, for the opportunity to say that I do not support this mediation report. As you are aware, this House approved Kshs400 billion to go to the counties. However, the National Assembly, which is never mandated to take care of the interests of the counties, reduced that amount by Kshs20 billion. The Mediation Committee agreed on Kshs387 billion, cutting short Kshs13 billion to the counties. I will give my reasons, borrowing heavily from the President’s State of the Nation Address in the National Assembly. At paragraph 18, the President said that- “Tax revenues have grown by 11.5 per cent in June, 2024, reflecting the success of our tax base expansion measures. The economy continues to grow steadily, recording a 5.6 per cent growth rate in 2023, among the highest globally. We project five per cent growth this year and 5.6 per cent in 2025.” If tax revenues have grown by 11.5 per cent, why cut the amount of money that is supposed to go to the counties by Kshs13 billion? If you read the report by the committee on consideration of the Division of Revenue Bill, they state that the withdrawal of the Finance Bill, 2024, was an unprecedented event and has implications on Government finances. This occasioned a shortfall in projected revenue collection by Kshs346 billion. The President said that there was a tax revenue growth by 11.5 per cent, yet the committee says there was a shortfall. Sometimes when you are accused of telling lies, it gives us a hard time knowing who to believe and what to accept. The shortfall that the committee is implying was negated by the President himself. My question is, why do we reduce the amount that goes to the counties? Article 96 of the Constitution requires us to take care of the interests of our counties; both the governments and the people. I do not understand why Senators, who we sent to the Mediation Committee, agreed to the reduction. Actually, we could have asked for more. Paragraph 29 of the President’s speech says- “Counties have struggled with shortages of medicine, equipment and staff, hindering service delivery and leaving countless Kenyans with sub-optimal access to health care.” From his speech in Parliament, His Excellency the President is aware that the counties are struggling yet the committee is not in line with what the President is trying to achieve or they are coming up with their own figures. On paragraph 29, the President goes on to say- “It would have been easy for me to step back and leave this responsibility to counties alone, but that would have been a disservice to Kenyans and a betrayal of our Constitution.” The President is aware that there is shortage and he cannot sit back and leave the responsibility to the counties alone. Why would a committee of this House reduce the money that goes to the counties, yet it has been made aware that there is struggles and The electronic version of the Senate Hansard Report is for information purposesonly. A certified version of this Report can be obtained from the Director, Hansard and AudioServices, Senate."
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"id": 1502680,
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"type": "speech",
"speaker_name": "Sen. Thang’wa",
"speaker_title": "",
"speaker": null,
"content": "shortages in the counties by the President. That is why I would not at any moment support this."
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"type": "speech",
"speaker_name": "Sen. Munyi Mundigi",
"speaker_title": "",
"speaker": null,
"content": "On a point of order, Mr. Temporary Speaker, Sir."
}
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