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{
    "id": 1012514,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/1012514/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 193,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "Kieni, JP",
    "speaker_title": "Hon. Kanini Kega",
    "speaker": {
        "id": 1813,
        "legal_name": "James Mathenge Kanini Kega",
        "slug": "james-mathenge-kanini-kega"
    },
    "content": "Hon. Speaker, the Committee made the following observations: (i) The Committee notes with great concern that over the years since the inception of devolved governments, there has been a recurring contestation of the vertical sharing of resources leading to mediation on the annual Division of Revenue Bill and in turn, delayed passage of the respective annual County Appropriation Revenue Bill. This often leads to disruption of service delivery, like it is being experienced at the moment. We are in the second quarter of the financial year and county governments have not received allocation for the first quarter. (ii) Transferred functions from the Nairobi City County to Nairobi Metropolitan Services: Whereas the Bill provides that the County Assembly shall appropriate money as may be required for the transferred functions and transfer the money to the national Government, the Committee is concerned that there are legislative gaps that may hinder full operationalisation of the transferred functions. Indeed, there is no clear mechanism on how funds received in the County Revenue Fund will be transferred to the national Government under the Consolidated Fund. (iii) Accounting and audit of the conditional grants: The county governments’ audit reports do not report adequately on the utilisation of conditional grants as these are subsumed in the line Ministry’s audit reports. It is a case I picked in all the areas that receive conditional grants. (iv) Cash disbursement schedule: Each year, the National Treasury gazettes the cash disbursement schedule with the approval of the Senate. However, this is only for compliance. The reality is that cash flow is highly uncertain. Having reviewed, scrutinised and examined the contents of the County Allocation of Revenue Bill, 2020, the Committee makes the following policy and financial recommendations: Under policy recommendations, the Committee notes the following: (i) An urgent need to legislate and make provisions on how to handle the delays in passage of any of the annual revenue bills, including delays that may arise out of any unforeseen eventualities. This will ensure smooth flow of resources at all times regardless of any delays in disbursement. (ii) A special audit of all conditional grants to be undertaken in order to guide future allocations, allocation criteria and the necessity for continuation of such grants. (iii) There is need for an ad hoc committee to be constituted to review and develop allocation criteria of conditional allocations and identify areas that may require intervention of the national Government to address specific needs, including challenges occasioned by climate change. (iv) A comprehensive audit of all donor funds that have so far been expended at the sub- national level be undertaken and a report tabled before enactment of the County Allocation of Revenue Bill for 2021/2022 Financial Year. (v) The National Treasury should adhere and comply not only to the gazetting of the disbursement schedules, but also in ensuring timely disbursements with no arrears. Under financial recommendations, to unlock and guarantee the flow of resources to the county governments in order to protect county service delivery, the Committee recommends that this House concurs with the Senate. In this regard, the Committee recommends that the House approves: (i) The First Schedule to the County Allocation of Revenue Bill, 2020 with respect to equitable share to each county for 2020/2021 Financial Year, amounting to Kshs316,500 million. The electronic version of the Official Hansard Report is for information purposesonly. A certified version of this Report can be obtained from the Hansard Editor."
}