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{
    "id": 1231521,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/1231521/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 375,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "Sen. Wambua",
    "speaker_title": "",
    "speaker": {
        "id": 13199,
        "legal_name": "Enoch Kiio Wambua",
        "slug": "enoch-kiio-wambua"
    },
    "content": "Mr. Speaker, Sir, from the onset, I want to go on record opposing the Bill as received from the National Assembly and moved by the Senate Majority Leader. There is so much that Senators will have to say about this Bill. So, I will limit myself to two or three issues. First is for all of us to take note of the fact that under Article 218 of the Constitution, this is one of the key mandates of this House; to determine division of revenue between the two levels of Government. To set the record straight, the Executive has no business, whatsoever, attempting to determine how much money should go to the 47 counties in this country. The Executive and the National Treasury should sit back and wait for Parliament to determine how much money should go to the national Government and county governments. Secondly, as this determination is being made, I can see an attempt to claw back on the gains of devolution in the Bill that was moved today. Looking at the specifics, let us begin with the Equalization Fund. This Bill proposes to allocate Kshs8.4 billion to the Equalization Fund. Remember at the beginning of this year or late last year, Senators here expressed a lot of interest in having an Equalization Fund Bill come to the Floor of this House, so that we deal with this matter of Equalization Fund once and for all. It keeps appearing in our books. Monies keep being allocated to the Fund but it continues to be dormant because nothing is happening. We are told that there is a reserve but nobody knows where it is. I want to challenge Members of the Committee on Finance and Budget to hasten the process of formulating an Equalization Fund Bill, so that we deal with that matter once and for all. Going to the total shareable revenue, we note in this Bill that the total shareable revenue has increased by Kshs429 billion. It means over and above what the National Treasury collected last financial year, we will have an additional Kshs429 billion, which is an equivalent of 20 per cent increase from the Bill that we dealt with in the Financial Year 2022/2023."
}