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{
    "id": 1395411,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/1395411/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 267,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "Sen. Osotsi",
    "speaker_title": "",
    "speaker": {
        "id": 13588,
        "legal_name": "Osotsi Godfrey Otieno",
        "slug": "osotsi-godfrey-otieno"
    },
    "content": "it simply means the Government is competing with the private sector to borrow, which leads to high interest rates. For example, debt attributable to Treasury bonds is about Kshs4.2 trillion, debt attributed to Treasury bills is about Kshs565 billion and debts attributable to overdrafts and International Monetary Fund (IMF) special drawing rights is about Kshs220 billion. As a strategy, the Government should focus on reducing domestic debts so that it does not compete with the private sector in chasing debts and therefore, affecting the development of the private sector. Mr. Temporary Speaker, Sir, allow me to talk about the whole process of engagement, as Parliament, on matters of laws or strategies around financial matters. We have just passed the Budget Policy Statement (BPS). One of the most fundamental things that this House said in that policy statement was that we are going to allocate Kshs415 billion to counties. We know that the Division of Revenue Bill is coming. We will also have an opportunity to process the County Allocation of Revenue Bill. Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir, yesterday, I was surprised to see the National Assembly debating the Division of Revenue Bill. That is not a good thing because the Division of Revenue Bill is one of the fundamental Bills that hugely affect counties. Therefore, it should originate from this House. Why should it originate from the National Assembly such that it is the one to discuss division of revenue to our counties ahead of the Senate? I think something is wrong in this Parliament. Something is fundamentally wrong. We are seeing a trend where Bills that affect counties hugely originating from the National Assembly and we are not doing anything about it. We had the Affordable Housing Bill, the Water Bill, and probably many other Bills that will originate from the National Assembly. I said here some time back that this Senate has to wake up. We must wake up and fight for devolution in this country because at this rate, we are going to be partners in destroying devolution in this country. We know we belong to various sides of the political divide; the minority and the majority sides. However, the most fundamental thing that should make us work for the Kenyans is Article 96 of the Constitution, which says that we exist to protect the interests of our counties. We cannot protect the interests of our counties if we allow devolution to be fought using the very institution which is supposed to protect devolution. Even as we talk about this, we must ask ourselves serious questions. That is why I support that as a bicameral Parliament, we need to define which aspects should originate from the Senate and those from the National Assembly. We should not allow Members of the National Assembly to be the ones to determine for us how much should be taken to the counties. We have already said that we want Kshs415 billion shillings to go to our counties. Let that stand. That cannot be varied in the Division of Revenue Bill. I want to say clearly that the only House that has the power to determine how much should go to the counties is the Senate. Some two weeks back, I was at a function where a commissioner for the Commission on Revenue Allocation (CRA) stood up in the presence of Sen. Cherarkey The electronic version of the Senate Hansard Report is for information purposesonly. A certified version of this Report can be obtained from the Director, Hansard and AudioServices, Senate."
}