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{
"id": 1161575,
"url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/1161575/?format=api",
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"type": "speech",
"speaker_name": "Sen. (Eng.) Hargura",
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"speaker": {
"id": 827,
"legal_name": "Godana Hargura",
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"content": "and with the Advisory Board in place, we need to see how the Kshs25 billion that has been collected by now will be utilised. Madam Temporary Speaker, right now, we have the second formula by the Commission on Revenue Allocation (CRA) on recommendation, which covers many more parts of this country. This is because of the definition of “marginalised areas”. I hope there will be good news this time in utilising whatever has been collected, taking into account that it is not even the actual amount as per the Constitution, and so far, there has been no implementation. On the part of the equitable share, I have said that the figure given there is not realistic. In the last financial year, we gave the same figure. We need to increase it, taking into account the current situation. There is inflation and less revenue was generated. While we tackle this, counties also need to improve their own source revenue collection. From the audit reports that have been brought to the Senate, counties have been collecting less than what they had set as their targets. At the beginning when they do their budget each year, they estimate the revenue they are supposed to collect. At the end of the year when auditing is done, very few if any county, meets its set targets. These are targets that they set themselves, based on the revenue streams they have and previous years’ collections. They still do not attain those targets. Counties need to understand that they are governments with the capacity to generate their own revenue. Therefore, they need to properly map their revenue streams and seal loopholes through which money is lost. When they do manual collections, there is loss of funds at source by the revenue officers. There are also cases where counties collect money, but spend at source without first submitting it to the County Revenue Fund (CRF) or establishing proper funds the way the law allows them. For example, they can collect money from health institutions and deposit it into a fund. The money can be spent and does not have to come to CRF. However, they do not do even this. We have all these questions. Basically, let them focus on what they can do for themselves, instead of concentrating on what comes from the national Government. They have the capacity to collect revenue. In some cases, they collect less than what the defunct local authorities used to collect, whilst they have better facilities. Considering the resources they have, they can employ more revenue collectors and automate all their revenue streams. Currently, we are struggling with counties, which, 10 years down the line, have not updated their nominal roles on land rates. It seems the mentality in counties is to wait for what comes to the National Government. They are not putting effort in collecting revenue, yet it is their own source revenue. Madam Temporary Speaker, while we advocate for more funds to go to counties – like what we went through the other year when we were working on the formula – may I urge counties that to endeavour to collect their own revenue and improve their own source revenue generation. At the end of the day, we should head where county governments can fund half or most of their budgets. The more they generate, the more services they can provide and the more they can improve and develop their counties. With devolution, there must be responsibility. We should not be waiting for funds from the centre or always expecting more funds from the same centre. With the kind of"
}