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{
    "id": 1169538,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/1169538/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 167,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "Sen. (Dr.) Mwaura",
    "speaker_title": "",
    "speaker": {
        "id": 13129,
        "legal_name": "Isaac Maigua Mwaura",
        "slug": "isaac-mwaura"
    },
    "content": "need to look at. We had an opportunity to discuss this with the Executive. There was some reassurance given, but they have never seen the light of the day. The elephant in the room is that Members of the National Assembly have always feared that if Senators were to be given money for oversight, they will be too powerful, as to threaten their very hegemony that has existed since 1963. I want to say unequivocally that the Senate is here to stay, to play its active role for the benefit of society. Counties are the new frontiers for development. Therefore, any move towards strengthening oversight to ensure people get service delivery is welcome if not already late. I also say without doubt that one of the things that I thought I would have been able to achieve as Sen. (Dr.) Mwaura, is to see that we reinforce some resources, when we are doing County Allocation of Revenue Act (CARA) and this Schedule is funds to go to special interest groups. I would have appreciated if it came from here that there should be some specific kitty in every county, at least, a minimum of Kshs100 million for women, youth and Persons with Disabilities (PwDs). This is so that when they go to allocate monies at the county assembly, that is the first charge of source. That would have helped a lot because the programming in various counties has not really targeted that. It is just small departments under the Ministry of Social Services and the county executive member in charge of that docket. However, it has not really translated, as it were, into tangible benefits for such groups of people who are marginalized. Even when we have had Acts of county assemblies, they have not been implemented. A very good example is Nairobi County, where there is a Persons with Disability Act that is yet to be implemented. There is another one in Siaya County. There is another one I was working on with the Governor of Vihiga County, Hon. (Dr.) Wilber Otichillo. May he be re-elected if it is possible. People are progressive, but then because of lack of resources, those ideas never get implemented. As the English man said, “You put your money where your mouth is”. The third issue that I would like to comment about this Schedule is the fact that, on average, counties have continued to depend on the equitable share; they depend on the sharable revenue. They have not ensured that they have enough resources from their own revenue. That is something that is not very good because if we all depend on the centre, then it becomes a critical issue. This Senate is supposed to increase the debt ceiling to Kshs10 trillion. I do not know whether it has already happened or it will happen tomorrow. The fact that the first charge of any revenue so collected about Kshs1.6 trillion goes out to counties about Kshs384 billion. With the projection of what we did here, it is guaranteed because what the Government did was to collapse all the conditional grants. Then it requires that counties, as of essence, if their economies are growing, to also increase their kitty. It becomes a very sad reality that the counties collectively are not having enough money equivalent to the defunct local governments. Are we moving forward or retrogressing? Are these revenues becoming the preserve of Governors whom we campaign with, only for them to become millionaires and billionaires? This needs to be put within the ambit of the law."
}