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{
    "id": 1161496,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/1161496/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 92,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "Sen. Cherargei",
    "speaker_title": "",
    "speaker": {
        "id": 13217,
        "legal_name": "Cherarkey K Samson",
        "slug": "cherarkey-k-samson"
    },
    "content": "missing school because of not getting county bursary it is so critical. So, we should be investing more. Madam Temporary Speaker, that is what we meant when we talked about the bottom-up economy, where we need to build more on the lowest level as opposed to the highest level where we propose trickle down. This is the assurance that some of us in our formations believe that we should allocate more resources to counties. When you talk about health, you need that Universal Health Coverage at the lowest level. Access to NHIF, access to good roads and feeder roads that are developed at the village level, dispensaries, county bursaries, access to water; all these have continued to become a challenge. Many people are sick in our villages where we come from. This is a period when all of us are active. I was in Aldai Sub County somewhere in Terik Ward and Kemeloi/MarabaWard and their main challenge is access to water and you know water is a basic need. So, if we do not increase funds to our counties that access to water in Kajiado County where you come from will continue to be a problem. We must increase funds. I do not know why we would want a national Government that has more funds than our counties. The biggest challenge that we face as a country is threefold. One is public debt. Looking at the revenue that has gone down because of the pandemic, I have seen they have tried to reduce it to around Kshs930 billion. We need to check public debt because the more public debt continues to increase where it is now more than Kshs670 trillion, the more it will continue to affect revenue sharing. The priority number one is that the standing charge that will always be there will always be about public debt. Therefore, the public debt that we are having continues to eat into the revenue. You know revenue is not doing very well. My only concern is how we ensure that we harmonise our own-source revenues. Counties have a problem with own source revenue. They need to tighten the issue of their own cess, rents and rates. You will find that some counties like Mombasa County which used to have municipal houses, the rent they are charging is still low. In counties that have municipalities like Eldoret, you find somebody is still living in a house and paying rent of Ksh1,500. I am not saying that it should be increased but the county should be more innovative to increase their own portfolio on own-source revenue. Public debt continues to be a threat to the success of devolution because the argument is that this is something that we must pay. Corruption and abuse of resources is also another factor that continues to affect us. One of the biggest single cancerous threats to the success of devolution continues to be corruption. The more larceny and graft continues to bedevil our devolved units, it continues to be a threat. Therefore, the county assemblies and the Senate should tighten the oversight role by ensuring that the governors do not in any way infiltrate into corruption that we are facing. For example, a few years ago, there was a mega scandal in Nandi County where Early Childhood Development (ECD) cement and around Kshs200 million was lost, tyres and many other things were lost, and 18 county government officers are in court over"
}