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{
    "id": 1210547,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/1210547/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 326,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "Sen. (Dr.) Khalwale",
    "speaker_title": "",
    "speaker": {
        "id": 170,
        "legal_name": "Bonny Khalwale",
        "slug": "bonny-khalwale"
    },
    "content": "I made it a point to do spot checks all the time in my county. When I talk to the teachers about CBC, they tell me they do not know it. When I talk to the parents, they tell me they cannot afford. When I talk to the students and the pupils, especially the pupils, they say they do not know if they were number one, two, seven or last. I then ask them, what the problem is. One of them told me: “I used to beat Maria, but now I do not know whether Maria did better than me or not.” This confusion requires time. I encourage the Special Committee that His Excellency the President put in place, led by Prof. Munavu – my lecturer at the University of Nairobi – to be firm and make realistic recommendations that will deliver our children to the dreams of their lives. The Committee should not recommend decisions that will help some business people who thought they could make a quick kill through the education sector, to make an extra buck. Mr. Speaker, Sir, as we go into this Committee to bring more business, I implore Members of this House that if we are not going to be very serious, somebody will start to think that Senate is not up to it. One of the cardinal Bills that this House is supposed to deliver is the Division of Revenue Bill. It decides how much money will remain with the National Government vis-a-vis the devolved structure. It should not surprise any Senator who has refused to follow current affairs, that somebody is starting to think that we are not doing it. If governors were confident that we can do this job of division of revenue, why would they be disturbing the Deputy President in meetings of Intergovernmental Budget and Economic Council (IBEC), asking him for more money? Why would they go further and also disturb the President when they know that the division of revenue is our responsibility? The National Treasury is saying that it can only give Kshs380 billion. The Commission of Revenue Authority (CRA), which is our technical arm – not the technical arm of the Executive under this Constitution – is asking them to accept Kshs407 billion, while the Governors want Kshs425 billion. This conversation should not be taking place at State House or at retreats chaired by the President. Those conversations are supposed to take place in the Senate through the Committee of Finance and Budget, so that the National Treasury, CRA and the Council of Governors (CoG) can come and state their case. Our Committee will then inform this House and we shall decide how much money to allocate to the Division of Revenue Bill. We are allowing ourselves to look irrelevant. We look like we are not up to it. I look at some of the governors that I respect, even though some of them are my younger brothers. However, they have no idea how revenue is divided between the two levels of Government. They are walking in corridors going to see the Chief Minister, the Cabinet Secretary for Finance and the Deputy President, hoping that they will get access to the President. That is not the way. Let them talk to us. That is our job. They cannot take away our job and then go in funny meetings and funerals and say how it is them who get money for counties. Since when and how? Mr. Speaker, Sir, I conclude by speaking to the last point. It is what has transpired this afternoon. I beg you, Mr. Speaker, Sir. You are my younger brother and I have"
}