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{
    "id": 1051370,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/1051370/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 252,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "Sen. Sakaja",
    "speaker_title": "",
    "speaker": {
        "id": 13131,
        "legal_name": "Johnson Arthur Sakaja",
        "slug": "johnson-arthur-sakaja"
    },
    "content": "Madam Temporary Speaker, devolution is the biggest gift we have given to our counties and bequeath to our people in this country. It is the biggest gift in our Constitution. I am glad that is even it is even being strengthened more through the BBI; we will have a stronger devolution based on proper allocation of resources at 35 per cent. That is why many of us fought when there was BBI two. I think it was the second document of BBI which proposed to do away with Nairobi City County. I put up a spirited fight because we wondered why 10 per cent of the population of this country would be denied the greatest gift that comes to Kenyans. That lady in Mutuini, that young man in Mathare or that citizen of Kenya in Soweto and Pipeline has the same right to that gift of the Constitution as Article One says, “To exercise their sovereignty at both the national level and at the county level.” I am very pleased that that was changed. Nairobi City retains its full county status in 2022 after the mandate of the Nairobi Metropolitan Services (NMS) expires. The next governor who comes in can decide to get into a similar arrangement with a similar entity or by that time to use the systems that we will have already established. Madam Temporary Speaker, the amounts have been going steadily up. If you look at 2014/2015 Financial Year, we were able to give counties Kshs226 billion. Many people have been asking, “If you have not been able to do 15 per cent, how will you do 35 per cent?” That is what people are asking about BBI. That needs to be debunked. Since the advent of devolution, the Government has never done 15 per cent. It does way above 15 per cent. In the Financial Year 2014/2015, the Kshs226 billion of the last audited revenue was 43 per cent. That last audited revenue in that year was Kshs529 billion. In the following year, Kshs259 billion was actually coming to 33 per cent. In 2016/2017, Kshs280 billion, out of a total revenue of Kshs935 billion was actually 30 per cent. In the last few years when the amount has not changed, if you look at 2019/2020, Kshs316.5 billion was 30 per cent and the last year was 23 per cent. The reason we are keen on making sure we are sending the counties 35 per cent is because any good president can do whatever amount they want. However, we do not know which kind of President we will get next time. You never know. Therefore, let the floor be 35 per cent so that no matter who sits at the national level or at the presidential level, but our counties will be assured of those resources. That deals with many things, including a sense of being Kenyan. As you saw during the clamour in the last financial year for allocation of resources, a lot of the discourse that happens across the country, if you hear and see the contents of this report, we have a problem coming as a country. The problem is that we focus so much on how to divide the cake yet very little effort is put on how to bake a bigger cake. That is what it needs to be going on. If you look at the risk in the counties in terms of raising revenue, we have a CRA. We will soon need a commission for revenue generation because this is an issue no one is discussing it. I remember in the beginning and even if you look through the report, counties having their revenue going down. Many of the municipal councils and town councils we had were collecting a similar amount or a higher amount in certain parts of the country than what our counties are now collecting. The electronic version of the Senate Hansard Report is for information purposes only. A certified version of this Report can be obtained from the Hansard Editor, Senate."
}