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{
    "id": 1226016,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/1226016/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 202,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "Kikuyu, UDA",
    "speaker_title": "Hon. Kimani Ichung’wah",
    "speaker": null,
    "content": "Libraries and their establishment is a very important function, especially towards the growth of literacy levels in our country. I encourage all our county governments not to allow this function to die in their hands. Part of the reason we have problems with our food security is because the moment we devolved agricultural services, especially extension services in the agriculture sector, the extension officers who were devolved to the counties were not given vehicles. They are not facilitated to offer extension services to farmers. Therefore, they produce without the requisite extension services that they used to get from the national Government in the old days. I encourage all our county governments to ensure that they allocate more resources. I know there is usually the temptation to allocate resources towards areas where governors and people who run their offices at the county level are able to get kick-backs. We must resist the temptation to allocate resources towards counties who have people who can get kick-backs. We, however, want to encourage them to invest money in more productive sectors. Finally, Hon. Speaker, we must appeal to our governors to ensure that there is proper accountability of all the funds that are devolved to our counties. The first 10 years since the advent of devolution, we have had trillions of shillings being devolved to our county governments. There is no comparison of what has gone to our county governments and what has gone to the NG-CDF over the years in terms of getting value for money in projects that are implemented under the NG-CDF framework as opposed to those that are rolled out under the county governments framework. The question of pending bills in our county governments, as it is in the national Government, is that they are the first charge to the Exchequer; and our governors must ensure that they settle all the pending bills owed to the contractors and other service providers in the county governments, most of whom are struggling hustlers who offered services and goods, but some have gone up to seven years without being paid. I specifically ask the new governors who have taken office for the first term to recognise and appreciate that they took over Governments that existed before, and those that exist in perpetuity. Therefore, they should not look at pending bills that were incurred by their predecessors as Bills that were owned by the governor before them. Those Bills are owed to the service providers by the respective county governments. Let me also use this opportunity to encourage our governors who come from counties that seem to be enticed to the subversive activities of demonstrations. It is one thing to get revenues coming to your counties, and another to speak to the media to ask investors to come to your counties. For instance, if you are a tourist county like Mombasa or Kisumu, you should be the last governor to be seen as entertaining anarchy, destruction of property and looting of people’s businesses and, at the same time, asking people and investors to come and invest in your cities and towns. I know that some governors operate under very strenuous and difficult circumstances because of being lorded over by lords of poverty who want to instigate anarchy. Governors, please, protect your counties from the anarchy and abuse by those who think they can control you; and encourage investors to come and invest in those counties. Governors cannot only focus on what is coming from equitable share of revenue from the national Government, but also on their own source of revenue. Many counties, for instance, the City County of Nairobi, has no reason to be dependent or seem to be looking up to the Central Government or what is raised nationally to pay their salaries. I see all governors crying The electronic version of the Official Hansard Report is for information purposesonly. A certified version of this Report can be obtained from the Hansard Editor."
}