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{
"id": 1011803,
"url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/1011803/?format=api",
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"type": "speech",
"speaker_name": "Sen. Mutula Kilonzo Jnr.",
"speaker_title": "",
"speaker": {
"id": 13156,
"legal_name": "Mutula Kilonzo Jnr",
"slug": "mutula-kilonzo-jnr"
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"content": "Senators, like you, Mr. Temporary Speaker, Sir, who were in the first policy and are not in the second policy. The way the Constitution is framed, once the policy has been tabled, there is nothing much we can do. Therefore, for the Members who were worried, the question of areas is now settled until we go to the third policy. Mr. Temporary Speaker, Sir, the second issue I want to raise is from the ruling of the Council of Governors (CoG) versus the Attorney-General. Since Members have asked, the court has said this, and I want to put it on record so that this is settled. The court said it is much appreciated that the basic services for which the Equalization Fund is to be used under Article 204 of the Constitution such as water, roads, health facilities, and electricity at the local level, are county government functions under Paragraph 2 of the Fourth Schedule. For that reason, they can only be implemented by the county governments. That being the case, implementation of the projects supported by the Equalization Fund through line ministries of the national Government as alleged by the respondents to have happened and as provided in the guidelines, has no legal basis, as the national Government has no function in the Fourth Schedule. Mr. Temporary Speaker, Sir, and hon. Senators, what this means is that the court has determined that the national Government has no role, except under Section 18 of Public Finance Management Act, to disburse the funds. Therefore, there are our amendments that we are going to table at the Third Reading. I hope the Chairperson can explain. All of them are anchored on that principle. The board that we have set up, the money they are going to spend of three per cent and the local committees that are going to identify projects; all those are anchored on the principle that this is entirely a county function. Mr. Temporary Speaker, Sir, thirdly and lastly, those Senators who were concerned about the projects identified in the first policy--- Samburu, West Pokot, Mandera, Isiolo counties, et cetera, are some of them. Those of you who were worried that these projects are going to be lost in the second policy, this Bill and the amendments done by the Committee on Finance and Budget have created a transition to the extent that those projects will not be lost. Therefore, you are still beneficiaries. You are a lucky lot that the Government only spent Kshs1.1 billion. The balance is still a huge sum of money to cater for your counties. There should be no worry about this. However, to say that we have a marginalized area in every part of the country is just trying to spread this money in such a way that everybody feels as if they are part of Kenya. That is why the mantra of “Team Kenya” applies to this. Let the person who is in Mandera and Isiolo counties, and even some places in Nyeri County called Kireini, where people are suffering, can also feel as if they belong because they are also marginalized. Mr. Temporary Speaker, Sir, I beg to support."
}