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{
    "id": 1165071,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/1165071/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 319,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "Sen. M. Kajwang’",
    "speaker_title": "",
    "speaker": {
        "id": 13162,
        "legal_name": "Moses Otieno Kajwang'",
        "slug": "moses-otieno-kajwang"
    },
    "content": "Madam Deputy Speaker, I rise to add my voice to the Statement that has been issued by the Senator for Migori County, Sen. (Dr.) Ochillo- Ayacko. It is indeed great disservice by the National Treasury not to release funds to county governments that this House and Parliament collectively approved. It is unconstitutional against the law and extremely bad manners. It is unfortunate that the present head of the National Treasury is a former head of a devolved unit. We believed that having a former governor running the National Treasury would be a plus for devolution because he understands the cash flow challenges that counties have and he would be a champion for county governments. This country is not going to develop sustainably by centralizing resources and development. That is why we wanted devolution to spread out to 47 different entities. If 47 counties work towards one objective, they can achieve it faster than when one centre is working towards that objective. Madam Deputy Speaker, pending bills that we keep talking about in this country are not going to be resolved with delays in remittances. This is a matter that I urge the Committee on Finance and Budget, the County Public Accounts and Investments Committee (CPAIC) and the Committee on Devolution and Intergovernmental Relations to be seized of. In the Budget Policy Statement (BPS) that we approved just the other day, the amounts of pending bills were mind boggling. The unfortunate bit is that many of the governors are coming to end of their terms. When we have a new administration, the first thing they do is to dispute the pending bills they inherit. Many a time, you will find legitimate service providers, contractors, youth, women and Persons with Disability (PWDs) who provided services to previous county administrations disenfranchised and they never get paid. They do not get paid because the new governor sometimes thinks that those contractors were supporters of the person who just left office."
}