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{
    "id": 1232106,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/1232106/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 495,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "Sen. Wakili Sigei",
    "speaker_title": "",
    "speaker": null,
    "content": "Madam Temporary Speaker, thank you very much for granting me the opportunity to also speak to this Bill that is key and the core reason why the House we are in exists. The Theme of the 2023 Budget Policy Statement (BPS) is what my colleague earlier own used a Kiswahili term which I cannot pronounce. That is; Bottom-Up EconomicTransformation Agenda for Inclusion Growth . That is the basis upon which the Bill that is before the House was also anchored. There are five pillars of this particular agenda that include agriculture, small and medium enterprises, housing, health and digital creative economy. The reason I am saying so is to ensure that as I speak to this Bill, we also speak to the allocation of resources towards the county governments, so that these particular agenda items are achieved. They can only be achieved if resources are allocated to the county governments and such resources are made available. It would make no sense to allocate and fail to disburse because it may not be in existence or it is insufficient as we have experienced in the previous months like a number of Senators have said. The aim of this Bill is to ensure that county governments are given resources that this House will approve, so that they also serve the people by ensuring that the cost of living is brought down. They can also create employment opportunities for many unemployed youths who at any given time once an opportunity come their way fight for it to eradicate hunger and promote inclusive growth. Most importantly, to manage the debt ratio of the national Government and almost in all our county governments where most of the people who participated in running projects have pending bills unpaid by the county governments. Madam Temporary Speaker, in essence, this Bill seeks to fulfill the core mandate of the Senate under Article 96 of the Constitution of Kenya. That is why it is the most important piece of legislation that we must, not only debate on substantively, but also ensure once it is passed, it is implementable to the extent that county governments benefit from its provisions. To the amount of the resources that have been allocated under this Bill, we have Kshs385 billion being the allocation of the sharable revenue for the Financial Year 2023/2024. This Kshs395 billion is an increase of Kshs15 billion from the Financial Year 2022/2021 allocation of Kshs370 billion. Article 203 of the Constitution requires that any such allocation must be above 15 per cent of the revenue that has been collected in any financial year. In terms of percentages, this gives us 23.03 per cent of the revenue collected that has been provided for in this Bill to be shared among the county governments. This is an increase in the allocation from the previous amount. Madam Temporary Speaker, under that particular Article 76, there is the need for this House to protect devolution. Protection of devolution is allocating resources."
}