Entry Instance

HTTP 200 OK
Allow: GET, PUT, PATCH, DELETE, HEAD, OPTIONS
Content-Type: application/json
Vary: Accept

{
    "id": 1440038,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/1440038/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 254,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "Teso South, UDA",
    "speaker_title": "Hon. Mary Emaase",
    "speaker": null,
    "content": "The Bill was published on 20th July 2023 and introduced in the Senate. It was considered and passed with amendments on 21st February 2024. Consequently, it was referred to the National Assembly for concurrence, as per Article 110(4) of the Constitution and the Senate Standing Order 161. The Equalisation Fund is established under Article 204(1) of the Constitution, which requires that 0.5 per cent of all the revenue collected by the national Government each year be paid into the Fund. The amount is calculated on the basis of the most recent audited accounts of revenue received, as approved by the National Assembly. Article 204 (2) of the Constitution provides that the national Government shall use the Equalisation Fund only to provide basic services including water, roads, health facilities and electricity to marginalised areas to the extent necessary to bring the quality of those services in those areas to the level generally enjoyed by the rest of the nation. Allocation from the Fund to the marginalised areas is undertaken in line with a per- determined policy developed by the Commission on Revenue Allocation (CRA) as mandated in Article 216(4) of the Constitution. Currently, the second policy which identifies 1,424 marginalised areas across 34 counties is under implementation. Each marginalised area is allocated a share of the Equalisation Fund based on an allocation factor as determined by CRA. The Equalisation Fund Appropriation Bill for the Financial Year 2023/2024 proposes to appropriate a total of Ksh10.87 billion. Out of this, Ksh8.57 billion are allocations for the Financial Year 2023/2024, and Ksh2.5 billion are arrears. Out of this amount, Ksh10.54 billion will be shared among marginalised areas in the 34 counties for development expenditure. There is an allocation of Ksh326 million for recurrent expenses of the Board, which is in line with Regulation 10(3) of the Public Finance Management (Equalisation Fund Administration) Regulations of 2021. The Equalisation Fund Advisory Board will use the Ksh326 million as recurrent expenditure. The law provides that the Board’s expenses shall not be more than 3 per cent of the annual approved Equalisation Fund. Therefore, the Ksh326 million is the 3 per cent of the total proposed amount of Ksh10.87 billion. Hon. Temporary Speaker, the Equalisation Fund Appropriation (No.2) Bill outlines the conditions for usage and operation of the Fund in the 2023/2024 Financial Year. The conditions include exclusion of funds from being paid into the County Revenue Fund. This condition is anchored in the provisions of Article 207(1) of the Constitution and Section 109 (2) (c) of the Public Finance Management Act of 2012. In conformity to this condition, the Bill provides that each beneficiary county to which the funds are to be transferred shall open an account with the Central Bank of Kenya and such funds shall be utilised for development expenditure and shall stay in that account until those projects are completed. Secondly, the approval granted shall not lapse until the projects identified in each of the counties specified in the First Column of the Bill are completed. The import of the amendments to the Bill by the Senate is to safeguard the monies in the Fund from lapsing until the identified The electronic version of the Official Hansard Report is for information purposesonly. A certified version of this Report can be obtained from the Hansard Editor."
}