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{
    "id": 1106625,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/1106625/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 252,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "Sen. Omogeni",
    "speaker_title": "",
    "speaker": {
        "id": 13219,
        "legal_name": "Erick Okong'o Mogeni",
        "slug": "erick-okongo-mogeni"
    },
    "content": "Mr. Temporary Speaker, Sir, as I gear towards my conclusion, I am a bit worried with the way that we are moving with this Equalization Fund. We started with 14 counties. When you read through, you can never have a quarrel. I know the way life is difficult in Turkana and Mandera. I know the distance between one health facility and another. I know the difficulties that the people of Wajir are facing in terms of roads. If am not wrong, the first time a tarmac road hit Wajir was four years ago, and that is one stretch of road form Nairobi to Wajir. I agree that that is serious marginalization. The same thing goes for Samburu and many other counties. We are now opening this thing up. We have brought on board 34 counties out of 47. I do not think that that was the intention and the spirit of the framers of the 2010 Constitution. I am telling you that that was never the intention. The framers never thought that a time would come when we would spread this thing to 34 counties. Next time, we will have all the 47 counties being referred to as marginalized. Mr. Temporary Speaker, Sir, I do not think that this is the way to go. There are people who are playing catch up. Let us accept it. Those are counties that should receive the attention of the Commission on Revenue Allocation (CRA). We should not introduce other politics of saying that everybody wants to have a piece of the cake. Some people have eaten since 1964. There are counties where every two kilometres, you have a health facility. It is not fair when we bring in these other factors like clean water and others. That is not the way to go. Mr. Temporary Speaker, Sir, in conclusion, I appeal to the Senate to reconsider these regulations. I know that Sen. Mutula Kilonzo Jnr. has raised a technical issue on the operation of the law. Perhaps the regulations have already taken effect, but I do not think that future generations will forgive us if we just allow these regulations to pass. Do not be cheated by this thing you call the Equalization Fund Advisory Board (EFAB). What power do you have if you are an advisory board sitting in Nairobi and the people who have the power are those who are at the county and ward level? Do not be given this sweetened thing that Senators have a representative at the EFAB. No! In fact, Members of the National Assembly do not have representatives at the board here. Their representatives are at the constituency level. That is where things take place. I appeal to my colleague Senators to rethink on these regulations, especially on issues dealing with the administrative structure of the board. We have them taken back to the sender so that the Senate, our staff at the county level, and the County Executive Committee Members (CECM) who are our ministers at the county level are given room in the operationalization and administration of these funds. With those remarks, I do not support."
}