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{
    "id": 1157835,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/1157835/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 215,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "Navakholo, JP",
    "speaker_title": "Hon. Emmanuel Wangwe",
    "speaker": {
        "id": 2543,
        "legal_name": "Emmanuel Wangwe",
        "slug": "emmanuel-wangwe"
    },
    "content": " Thank you, Hon. Speaker. I wish to support the Report on the mediated version of the County Government Additional Allocation Bill (Senate Bill No. 35 of 2021). The main issue here is allowing the flow of funds. Once the funds have been allocated in the budget, they should flow as quickly as possible. What is obstructing the fund is a small issue. Grants that come from either the Government or from foreign governments should be allocated properly so that they support the main budget that would have been allocated through the Division of Revenue Allocation Bill to the county governments. Key on this is the ruling by the High Court on how the matter is supposed to be treated through case No. 252, which gave the Senate the power to originate this Bill. In completion of the passage of this Bill, it will give a legal framework for disbursement of the conditional grants, especially the Ksh39 billion that is meant for various projects. There is also the small issue of the title. During the mediation, it was not a big issue that the title could obstruct the flow of funds. It is a mere presentation on how you want to call a title. I, therefore, want to thank the Mediation Committee because they were quick to accept what was possible and move on, at least for the county governments to access the funds. When you look at money given to us by donors, it is always time-bound. As we continue to debate on this, let us be considerate to appreciate the Mediation Committee. As long as they have given us this Report and we approve it, it will resolve the issue of the timeline, which is crucial for donors. Donors would not want to see that they give us money then we keep it and do not allow its expenditure by various counties. There is also need to come up with an alternative way of disbursement of funds, since the absorption rate has been low due to delays in disbursement. Whereas we have 47 counties, they do their own budgets. We do not do the budgets for the 47 counties. When we hold money in Nairobi, it delays their absorption of funds. Finally, I want to look at the conditional grants that have diverse conditions. They may need to be reviewed annually or otherwise depending on the nature of agreements that have been entered into. The Mediation Committee looked at this from a National Assembly perspective and from the Senate perspective. The Senate felt that they should be reviewing this Bill annually. Instead of it being a perpetual Bill, they want the Bill to be looked at by the two Houses each year. This was not a big issue, and the Mediation Committee has confirmed ceding to that position. That is a good thing. Anything that could help the flow of funds from Nairobi to counties was looked into by the Mediation Committee and allowed to help us move forward. I want to ask my colleagues to vote for this mediated version of the Bill so that we do not further obstruct the flow of funds to the counties. However, we must caution counties that the money that is going to their various accounts should not be money that they tend to assume, and instead of putting… They may want to double the amount. For example, the money that was meant for fighting the locust menace, some counties went to their county vote heads and voted for their own money. Counties 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."
}