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{
"id": 1160913,
"url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/1160913/?format=api",
"text_counter": 179,
"type": "speech",
"speaker_name": "Sen. Olekina",
"speaker_title": "",
"speaker": {
"id": 407,
"legal_name": "Ledama Olekina",
"slug": "ledama-olekina"
},
"content": "Mr. Temporary, Speaker, Sir, let me begin by thanking the two distinguished Senators who have spoken very passionately on this matter. This is another great opportunity for us, as the Senate, to stand firm with the people of Kenya. When I was elected as the Senator for Narok County, I knew one thing was very clear. First, let me say that I rise to support the Statement by the Chairperson of the Committee on Finance and Budget, Sen. Kibiru, who is a principled man, despite what you read out there. This gives me an opportunity to explain to the people of Narok County what I do as a Senator. Earlier on, this Senate debated on a matter over 11 times, and that was the biggest gain I can say that devolution gave to this country. That is shareable revenue. At that time when we passed to send Kshs370 billion to our counties, I was a proud Senator because Narok County doubled its annual share of revenue from Kshs4 billion to Kshs8.8 billion. I am indebted to this House for having done that. Yesterday, I was here and contributed to The Division of Revenue Bill. I knew we would have a moment to add on the recommendation made by the Committee to send Kshs495 billion to counties. What shocks me is that in this country, we talk about promoting development and healthcare systems, yet we know very well that even though healthcare and agriculture are devolved, very little money is allocated to these two sectors, hence we have to look for money elsewhere. The County Governments Grants Bill of 2021 would have helped to unlock the issue of conditional grants because of the decision by the High Court of Kenya. The drafters of that Bill were alive to the fact that the only reason we are allowed to conclude the debate on the shareable revenue is because someone sitting somewhere did not think that we were going to be clever enough to separate conditional and unconditional grants. They wanted to commingle all those funds and increase the money sent to the counties. That is why it was easy for them to add counties another Kshs50 billion. In this financial year, Narok County would have received a total of Kshs49,795,426 to promote the healthcare system. Narok County would have also received Kshs398,148,737 to promote agriculture. In fact, the grant was rural inclusivity to make sure that the agricultural sector is promoted. If you go to Narok County and drive from Narok Town to Olokurto, which is the food basket of that county, you will not find any road to get there. We have a lot of food rotting on the farms. That money could have improved that sector. Mr. Temporary Speaker, Sir, again, in promoting the Level 1 and Level 2 hospitals, there was Kshs11,851,000 which was supposed to be sent through the Danish International Agency (DANIDA) Fund. These are loans and donor funds that we get, which would have been able to improve those those Level 2 and Level 1 hospitals. That money has not gone and we are just about to end the Financial Year. There was about Kshs82 million that could have gone to Kenya Devolution Support Program that would have gone to Narok County, but that money has not gone"
}