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{
    "id": 1127008,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/1127008/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 487,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "Rangwe, ODM",
    "speaker_title": "Hon. (Dr.) Lilian Gogo",
    "speaker": {
        "id": 13464,
        "legal_name": "Lilian Achieng Gogo",
        "slug": "lilian-achieng-gogo"
    },
    "content": "work to be done. There is enough bureaucracy in funds getting to our counties. Generally, given the ceilings, allocations from the national Government are low. When you work at the grassroots, you realise that as much as counties want to discharge their responsibilities to the people of Kenya, there is generally no money. If it is there, it is way below what is expected for counties. As has earlier been indicated by my colleagues, it is these counties that are at the grassroots that meet with people where the rubber meets the road. So, anything that touches on increasing funds to our counties is welcome, because we must have a seamless working relationship between the national Government and county governments. If this is dealt with well enough and with benevolence, there is a role that is played by the national Government and one that is played by county governments. However, the main intention should be to empower our devolved systems and make them run for posterity. I support this Bill although there is mischief in some parts. It has been indicated that if the Bill is not approved by county assemblies within a given time, it would be deemed as having been approved. Look around the National Assembly chamber and you can see that Members are not here. They are at the grassroots where they are positioning themselves for the next elections. It is at these times, whether in the National Assembly or in county assemblies, that the national Government or county governments sneak in certain Bills if there are certain things they want to do. So, this may be abused and we probably need to amend it. I am also thinking about the autonomy of county governments. As much as we want to involve the national Government in grants that go to our counties, we should let the young boys go to work. We are creating lot of bureaucracy in terms of the funds that go to our counties to the extent that if they are from donors, it becomes too much. However, the national Government also finds itself between a rock and a hard place because it should control its systems. So, in as much as we want autonomy in our counties, the national Government should also focus exclusively on what is happening at the counties. I am also looking with some concern at the pace of management and development of our devolved systems. Depending on the managers by the name of governors, you find some counties developing at a fairer pace than others. We should have a system that will check on how the money is used. Of course, systems are there. The problem we have in this country is not necessarily lack of laws, but implementation. There are issues with how we ensure our laws work for our people. The laws are there. There are pieces of legislation put in place by the National Assembly, the Senate and even the county assemblies, but the issue is implementation. We should really look into the working of the laws that we bring in. This is a good Bill and I support it with the various amendments that have already been proposed by my colleagues, which I do not want to repeat. It is a good Bill that we need to support. We need to eliminate graft that raises eyebrows when it comes to Government expenditure at both the national and county levels. We need some level of patriotism when we are given the responsibility to manage public funds as leaders. With that, I support the Bill."
}