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{
    "id": 1419771,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/1419771/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 144,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "Sen. M. Kajwang’",
    "speaker_title": "",
    "speaker": {
        "id": 13162,
        "legal_name": "Moses Otieno Kajwang'",
        "slug": "moses-otieno-kajwang"
    },
    "content": "Mr. Speaker, Sir, I rise to support the Bill, but with amendments as proposed by the Senate Standing Committee on Finance and Budget. One of the most important duties of any Senator is to divide revenue, allocate it and follow up its implementation or utilisation. At this point, allow me to join hundreds and thousands of Kenyans who have been affected by the raging floods, particularly in my home county of Homa Bay. The residents of Sindo Township, one of the most beautiful locations in this country, where the rolling hills of Gwasi and Kak-Sikri come down to meet the lake. We have lost lives. Tens or hundreds of people have been displaced, but that is not the biggest tragedy because we have seen greater tragedy in places like Mai Mahiu. On behalf of the people of Homa Bay County, allow me to extend my condolences to all those who have been affected. There is a relationship with what we are doing today because whatever shall be allocated to counties, at least two per cent should be set aside for an Emergency Fund that will offer the first line of response in situations like the ones we find ourselves in today. Mr. Speaker, Sir, today, we are talking about revenue. Of course, many of us in various committees spend a lot of time looking at the utilization and accountability of that revenue. I support the Committee on Finance and Budget for proposing that we allocate to counties Kshs415 billion. I would have welcomed even a higher allocation to county governments because some of the non-discretionary financial obligations that have been cited as a reason for the increased allocation are things that have been introduced by Parliament. They include new payroll deductions in the forms of housing levy, NSSF, SHIF, and the general increase in inflation that has put pressure on wages of employees. Mr. Speaker, Sir, the national Government should have no problem with this position of the Committee on Finance and Budget because some of the other reasons that have been attributed to the demand on counties are projects that have been initiated by the Executive. We brought the County Industrial Aggregation Parks (CAIPs), which if implemented, will require county governments to put in place close to Kshs11 billion, over and above their initial plans. With some of these initiatives, you can never have a one-size-fits-all approach to development in a country like Kenya. We need to go back to history and learn from failed industrial policies. For example, in Ghana, Kwame Nkrumah, driven by the then Pan- African dream of import substitution, decided that he was going to do one factory per district and he tried that. Perhaps, out of the many districts, there are few factories that thrived. However, many of those factories became white elephants. That is what is going to happen with our 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."
}