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{
"id": 1545722,
"url": "http://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/1545722/?format=api",
"text_counter": 27,
"type": "speech",
"speaker_name": "Sen. Cheruiyot",
"speaker_title": "The Senate Majority Leader",
"speaker": {
"id": 13165,
"legal_name": "Aaron Kipkirui Cheruiyot",
"slug": "aaron-cheruiyot"
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"content": "There is one delay after another. Before you know it, we are on the 26th or 27th of March, like today, without having considered this particular Bill. Therefore, I want to request that we expedite now that there seems to be some headway. I want to appreciate the diligence of the Finance and Budget Committee, which has quickly considered this Bill. The only part where you have failed, Sen. Onyonka, Sen. Boni, and the rest of the team, is that because you knew you were coming here today and this was an extremely important business, perhaps you would have furnished us with the Report. Even I, as Majority Leader, move the Bill without benefiting from your wisdom as a Committee. I know you will share it, perhaps before Members comment, but I would not have had the opportunity, maybe, unless during the reply. I know the finer details of any Bill are always gotten from the reports of the Committee and the Members who serve in those Committees. Diligently listen to the stakeholders and guide the House into making a decision that is in the best interest of devolution. Be that as it may, I am glad that the Senate is making this rather informed decision to ensure that, pursuant to Article 202(2), we are providing a process through which additional allocations for this Financial Year of 2024-2025 find their way to the county. This is not a small amount, and I will rely on the wisdom of the Committee Members. To the best of my recollection, we are talking about in excess of Kshs60 billion. I am not sure of this figure. When the Whip, Sen. Onyonka, or any Member of Finance and Budget Committee will be speaking, they will tell us whether it is Kshs56 billion. So it is close to Kshs60 billion that needs to go to our counties. Even if we were to pass the Bill as urgently as possible and have it concluded, expecting that counties will absorb those funds, knowing well the processes of Government funding, is too much of a push on the part of counties. Unfortunately, some of these donor-funded projects are time-bound. If it gets to the end of this financial year, then the loan expires, and you have to renew the instruments. Therefore, it is an untidy situation. I hope that this never happens again. I do not recall a time when we have moved Bill for funding to counties this late into the financial year. Unless my memory is failing me, to the best of my knowledge, this is the latest it has ever gotten to. It is really unfortunate. So what are some of these schedules of funds that we are talking about and the conditional allocations that are being granted to each county from the national Government share of revenue? They include funds that are so basic, such as the construction of a county headquarters, a programme that began in 2015, almost 10 years down the line. Even if you are constructing, surely, even if you are the contractor, by the time you finish the second floor, the ground floor has started wearing out. What sort of building have you been building for more than 10 years? I am happy that this is the last batch of funds that you are disbursing to these five counties that have suffered. I hope some were diligent enough to conclude using other resources or getting contractors with better abilities and resources, so that the buildings have been finished up and these funds only go to pay for work that has already been done. That is my prayer. However, I know that it may not necessarily be true. 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."
},
{
"id": 1545723,
"url": "http://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/1545723/?format=api",
"text_counter": 28,
"type": "speech",
"speaker_name": "Sen. Cheruiyot",
"speaker_title": "The Senate Majority Leader",
"speaker": {
"id": 13165,
"legal_name": "Aaron Kipkirui Cheruiyot",
"slug": "aaron-cheruiyot"
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"content": "It also includes funds, or conditional allocations, to the county aggregation and industrial park programme as set out in column C. I still have a lot of questions about this programme. Members of the Finance and Budget Committee, perhaps, later in the year, once you are done with this budget-making cycle, it will be important that you follow through with your specific counties on what programmes your governors are laying out to ensure that these County Aggregation and Industrial Parks (CAIPs) are not white elephant programmes. This is a partnership of the Council of Governors in support of the national Government. We support this idea of trying to whip up local goods and produce from our farmers and ensure that there is an aggregation process and a place through which we can enhance their trade. However, in most counties — and this is where I speak from a position of knowledge — apart from the construction of the CAIPs, I do not see any concerted effort from the county governments to ensure that the produce is available. Otherwise, you will end up in a situation where a fancy building has been built in Taita- Taveta, Sen. Mwaruma, but then there is no local produce to take to those aggregation parks. There needs to be sensitization from county governments to ensure that, as expected and envisioned in the notes to this particular programme, the produce is available. What are you aggregating if you do not have those products in the first place? Where is the meeting held to speak to people to say, “Okay, in this particular area, we want to strengthen poultry, dairy, avocado or whatever farming?” As of now, the investment to the produce needs to be already happening, so that in another few months, when the County Aggregation and Industrial Parks (CAIPs) are ready, the farmers and local cooperatives are ready with the produce. Unfortunately, unless there are governors who are more diligent than I know, then this is something that is of great concern to me."
},
{
"id": 1545724,
"url": "http://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/1545724/?format=api",
"text_counter": 29,
"type": "speech",
"speaker_name": "Sen. Cheruiyot",
"speaker_title": "The Senate Majority Leader",
"speaker": {
"id": 13165,
"legal_name": "Aaron Kipkirui Cheruiyot",
"slug": "aaron-cheruiyot"
},
"content": "On conditional allocation for Community Health Promoters (CHPs), this a big problem because there are many counties where CHPs continue to wait on this. The unfortunate bit is that you will find that CHPs have received their matching funds from the national Government, but counties are blamed that they have not paid CHPs. However, what would they have used to pay with? Here are the funds now. Today, once we pass the Conditional Allocation Bill, is when it will become possible for our counties to pay them."
},
{
"id": 1545725,
"url": "http://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/1545725/?format=api",
"text_counter": 30,
"type": "speech",
"speaker_name": "Sen. Cheruiyot",
"speaker_title": "The Senate Majority Leader",
"speaker": {
"id": 13165,
"legal_name": "Aaron Kipkirui Cheruiyot",
"slug": "aaron-cheruiyot"
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"content": "We must make a decision, and the Committee on Finance and Budget must assist us to do so, on whether programmes such as this one of CAIPS and CHPs, that are in all the 47 counties, if there is need to budget these funds separate from Division of Revenue, especially having learnt from experience of what this additional allocation business has taught us this current financial year. Remember the history that I painted earlier on how we found ourselves doing this particular Bill. We just wanted to ensure that there is equity in programmes. The Senate needed to have visibility and ensure that if additional funds are going to counties, they are not skewed to benefit a few counties. However, on programmes such as the CHPs and CAIPS that are in all the 47 counties, it is my considered humble view, Sen. (Dr.) Boni Khalwale and all the Members of the Committee on Budget and Finance, that perhaps these are funds that we can include in DORA, such that once we have decided on how 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."
},
{
"id": 1545726,
"url": "http://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/1545726/?format=api",
"text_counter": 31,
"type": "speech",
"speaker_name": "Sen. Cheruiyot",
"speaker_title": "The Senate Majority Leader",
"speaker": {
"id": 13165,
"legal_name": "Aaron Kipkirui Cheruiyot",
"slug": "aaron-cheruiyot"
},
"content": "much is going to the counties, then there is no business of what we presently have, where CHPs are saying, “We have received the share from the national Government, but county governments are not paying.” We have to make a better decision."
},
{
"id": 1545727,
"url": "http://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/1545727/?format=api",
"text_counter": 32,
"type": "speech",
"speaker_name": "Sen. Cheruiyot",
"speaker_title": "The Senate Majority Leader",
"speaker": {
"id": 13165,
"legal_name": "Aaron Kipkirui Cheruiyot",
"slug": "aaron-cheruiyot"
},
"content": "There are also salary arrears for health workers in the county governments; no wonder they are always outside this Senate every other week. I have taken great concern. There is something that I am doing about it, as a leader and somebody passionate about devolution. We must be embarrassed. Apart from just the usual decisions that we make, many times, I see when people come to demonstrate here, Senators join them, and we say, “Oh, yeah, we are going to fight for your rights,” and that is the end of business. We must be a bit serious as leaders. You cannot be granted legislative powers and when people come to demonstrate, you join them and say, “We will think about it.” The following year, they come back again, you are still telling them, “We will do something about it.” Surely, we have to do something about the health workers in our counties. Apart from the funding model that is being proposed here in this particular Bill, there is just something that is not right in the architecture. We must celebrate what happened to the teachers and think along that particular line. When teachers ensure that they have a body that is representative at the national level and looks into all their affairs, in the form of the Teachers Service Commission (TSC), we should have thought about something for the health workers as well. I do not want to speak longer than that. The funds that are listed for loans or grants from development partners are quite a number. There is the Danish International Development Agency (DANIDA), which is supporting primary health in developed contexts. There is the International Development Agency (IDA) and the Kenya Informal Sector Improvement Project (KISIP). Sen. Osotsi, I am not sure whether it is your Committee that looks into these particular specially allocated funds because if there are funds that have been wasted in our county governments, it is this programme. I do not know whether it is the way that it was designed, but the one where county governments are doing something in partnership with the national Government on the informal sectors. Apart from Cabro and the small works that are being done there, looking into the amounts that are being committed and the work that is being done is something that we expect your Committee to lead us. Of course, there is even money for the financial emergency of the locust response project. I remember there was a conversation about it. Financing Locally Led Climate Action Programme (FLLOCA), which is a locally-led action on county climate resilience investment, this one, at least, is a grant, but it does not mean that even if it is a grant, it is money that should be wasted. It should be used prudently. It is a grant to the people of our counties and, therefore, should be used fairly well. There is this other one of the national agriculture value chain development produce. This is what I was talking about earlier, Sen. Mwaruma, that should be the complement of the CAIPS. This programme should help our farmers at a local level begin to generate sufficient produce that will be aggregated into the CAIPS. However, so long as there is no correlation and people are just obsessed with who becomes a contractor of these projects or who does the sheds--- We live in a very funny country. 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."
},
{
"id": 1545728,
"url": "http://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/1545728/?format=api",
"text_counter": 33,
"type": "speech",
"speaker_name": "Sen. Cheruiyot",
"speaker_title": "The Senate Majority Leader",
"speaker": {
"id": 13165,
"legal_name": "Aaron Kipkirui Cheruiyot",
"slug": "aaron-cheruiyot"
},
"content": "We must begin to move. If this money must be wasted and unfortunately, I have to say this, then I would rather it be wasted by ordinary citizens as opposed to allocating funds to people who will only be obsessed with building sheds and structures and moving out of that particular place without any direct benefit to the ordinary citizens. On these special funds, we must ask for a project implementation report, how they were eventually used and what has been their success. The unfortunate bit is that they have very funny long names. So, to keep track is not easy. Even you, as a Senator, will get easily confused, because you will be told this one is for the KISIP, the other one is for FLLOCA, and another one with a difficult name is for agriculture. To keep track of all the funding that ends up in our county governments and the expected impact on the lives of ordinary citizens is something that bothers us."
},
{
"id": 1545729,
"url": "http://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/1545729/?format=api",
"text_counter": 34,
"type": "speech",
"speaker_name": "Sen. Cheruiyot",
"speaker_title": "The Senate Majority Leader",
"speaker": {
"id": 13165,
"legal_name": "Aaron Kipkirui Cheruiyot",
"slug": "aaron-cheruiyot"
},
"content": "Finally, the Kenya Devolution Support Programme (KDSP) is set out in Column (j). There is a listing of how much is going to every county. Then there are other things about the Cabinet Secretary publishing, by the 15th day of each subsequent month, a monthly report on actual transfers of disbursed additional allocations to county governments. This one we did as well in the DORA. Then last, and perhaps the last thing that I would like to say, is that the county treasury shall include the consolidated quarterly and annual reports that include the Public Finance Management (PFM) Act, which is an actual transfer from the national Government, the expenditures and their compliance with the provisions of the Act. This is a very important report that we expect."
},
{
"id": 1545730,
"url": "http://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/1545730/?format=api",
"text_counter": 35,
"type": "speech",
"speaker_name": "Sen. Cheruiyot",
"speaker_title": "The Senate Majority Leader",
"speaker": {
"id": 13165,
"legal_name": "Aaron Kipkirui Cheruiyot",
"slug": "aaron-cheruiyot"
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"content": "Mr. Speaker, Sir, the listing is there of how much is going to each county, and this is as the Bill came. I want to believe that our colleagues from the Committee on Finance and Budget will guide us on what additional amendments they are proposing to the House. Even without seeing the amendments, I already support their position, because I am aware of some of the proposals that have been made there. With those very many remarks, I request the Whip of the Majority side, who is a Member of the Finance and Budget Committee, to second and help us understand better, even more salient issues that perhaps I may have missed in my moving notes."
},
{
"id": 1545731,
"url": "http://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/1545731/?format=api",
"text_counter": 36,
"type": "speech",
"speaker_name": "Sen. Cheruiyot",
"speaker_title": "The Senate Majority Leader",
"speaker": {
"id": 13165,
"legal_name": "Aaron Kipkirui Cheruiyot",
"slug": "aaron-cheruiyot"
},
"content": "I thank you, Mr. Speaker, Sir."
}
]
}