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{
    "id": 1400468,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/1400468/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 156,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "Sen. Mungatana, MGH",
    "speaker_title": "",
    "speaker": null,
    "content": "framework that will force money that will be collected through rating to go directly to the County Revenue Fund (CRF) accounts. We have technology in this time and age that we live in. We should not leave it to County Revenue officers to go to properties of people or those large investors in Tana River or any other county, to collect cash by writing papers and giving one type of paper saying it is the correct one. It could be the fake one and so money that is paid does not reach the CRF accounts. When we used to have county council, more money was being collected. Now that we have county governments, less money is being collected. I believe that Senators here will apply their minds, so that we create a system that will enable funds to go directly to the CRF account. We should create a system using technology that will make sure that money goes directly where it is supposed to be. The hope in this law is to create a legal framework that will ensure counties like ours, where we have huge pieces of land, attract investors. Some of them are Government and private bodies. In a predictable manner, they will know the amount and the law. They will not need to talk to anyone because they will be paying electronically when it is due. They will not need favours from governors, County Executive Committee Members (CECMs) in charge of Finance or County Revenue officers. They will be dealing directly with CRF accounts, so that when the time comes, they know how to pay. The creation within this framework must have within it an aspect of technology when it comes to collection. We should not just leave it a bit hanging there. Otherwise, this law is a good law for our counties. From my perspective, where we come from, especially because we have massive land and little population and people who have come to invest there, but they are not paying rates, this National Rating Act will enable county governments to collect enough. This is so that charges that they impose using the Finance Act on the local wananchi in the small towns can be reduced to a small contribution, so that big investors can benefit our counties. Madam Temporary Speaker, my other point in seconding this Bill is that when we are here looking for ways and means to make our counties function effectively, we have saboteurs within county governments’ systems. Some are elected while others are appointed leaders whose sole purpose is to milk monies that get into their hands. I am disappointed because our Tana River was listed by the Auditor-General, Nancy Gathungu, as one of the counties that have adverse opinion in the financial statements for the year ending 30th June, 2023. When you see a county such as ours committing Kshs450 million to pay legal fees, yet their own source revenue is so little, there is no accountability in those fees. There is no documentation according to the Auditor-General, yet people are just still walking around. The Auditor-General said Kshs22 million was paid for roads, but when they went there, they did not see them. Therefore, there was no value for money that went to Tana River County. Contractors and county government officers who participated in that crime are still walking free. They are known, yet nothing is happening to them. There is Kshs100 million that was unaccounted for in the year ending June 2023 for local travel because documentation is missing. People’s justifications for those travels 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."
}