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{
    "id": 1291350,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/1291350/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 260,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "Sen. Osotsi",
    "speaker_title": "",
    "speaker": {
        "id": 13588,
        "legal_name": "Osotsi Godfrey Otieno",
        "slug": "osotsi-godfrey-otieno"
    },
    "content": "It is important - and I agree with the Sen of Kiambu County - that maybe in the next Bill that will come to us, we would like to see, for example, that if it supports agricultural sector, the specific projects that we are approving. When these monies go to the ground, it ends up in projects that are sometimes are not even there. They are hot air. It is important that we have a special accountability committee on additional allocation. This is so that we enhance our oversight and ensure that all the funds that are sent to our counties outside the sharable revenue are equally monitored and properly oversighted. I have gone through the Bill and have some reservation. I know that we are putting in money towards aggregated industrial park. We have seen the Cabinet Secretary for Investment, Trade and Industry, Hon. Kuria, aggressively moving around the country and launching these parks. However, when you look at the Schedule that has been provided, only 18 counties have been given the Kshs250 million. My county is not included among the 18. The County of Kakamega where my big brother Sen. (Dr.) Khalwale is the Senator, has nothing, but the Cabinet Secretary is launching these things. He will be in Vihiga launching the industrial park on Friday. What is he launching when there is no money or budget for it? Mr. Temporary Speaker, Sir, if we decided we want to give Kshs250 million to counties, we should have done that to all the counties. If not ready, we delay until the next year. What criteria was used in this idea of only listing 18 counties and leaving out the others? I do not understand the hurry that hon. Kuria is in by launching these things. They are launching in my own county on Friday and there is no public participation or intervention by the County Assembly. What is he coming to launch? Still on industrial park, the arrangement is that the national Government gives Kshs250 million and the county contributes Kshs250 million. Many counties will have a problem raising these monies. I know my county has budgetary issues. We may not be able to raise Kshs250 million at a go. It also requires the intervention and the approval by the County Assembly. So, I am seeing in this Bill, another Kshs250 million has been allocated to a donor fund called the National Agriculture Value Chain Development Project (NAVCDP). Basically, this is the money that is going towards supporting value chain initiative in our counties. I urge this Senate to be very careful because some of the counties will end up using that Kshs250 million towards these industrial park projects. This money is meant to be used in those industrial parks for value addition and not capital expenditure. That is an area that we need to notice. On the issue of mineral royalties, there is no clear criteria defined in this Bill on how these royalties were given. My county is getting zero yet I see a lot of mineral activities. We have artisans, but also big companies which are prospecting gold in Kakamega and Vihiga counties. Some of them pretend they are prospecting yet they are mining. We have ended up getting zero. Kakamega County is only getting Kshs16,000 yet there is a lot of gold activity happening there."
}