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{
    "id": 1126943,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/1126943/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 422,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "Masinga, WDM-K",
    "speaker_title": "Hon. Joshua Mwalyo",
    "speaker": {
        "id": 13423,
        "legal_name": "Joshua Mbithi Mwalyo",
        "slug": "joshua-mbithi-mwalyo-2"
    },
    "content": " Thank you, Hon. Temporary Deputy Speaker, for the chance to contribute to the Bill. Although I have not extensively read it, I understand how conditional grants work. I would like to point out a few things. Conditional allocations refer to additional resources allocated to county governments apart from their normal budget. I happened to interact with some counties which were given conditional grants for specific projects that they were undertaking. The best part about conditional grants is that they are controlled by the giver. If the grant is from the European Union (EU), they will specifically send a coordinator for that account. The account is not operated by the usual government officers and they cannot even transfer the funds. The money is controlled and is not transferable. They cannot divert that money to another project. It is only when the European Union signs off on the project that they can be paid. Therefore, the additional grants being proposed are a good idea because most of the money that the national Government gives counties goes to recurrent expenditures. Therefore, you find that there is nothing or very little that they can do in terms of development. For instance, the World Bank may say that they are contributing towards Universal Health Care (UHC). They will appoint their own people and UHC will be developed. Their grant will complement what the Government is giving. This is a good Bill. If we make a few amendments on the controls, vote on it and pass it, then it will help our counties. It has been very difficult for counties to engage in any meaningful development. I will give an example of my constituency. The county government has only been able to construct three boreholes since I was elected in 2017. That means that if there were some conditional grants given to counties for water or UHC, even hospitals could be stocked with drugs. They could also build some mortuaries. If a person dies in my constituency, they are transported to another constituency because my constituency has no mortuaries. The county has no extra funds to even build one. I find these funds to be very useful. I hope Parliament will support the Bill so that it goes through and partners who are willing to give conditional grants can go ahead to do so. With those few remarks, I support the Bill."
}