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{
    "id": 1440133,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/1440133/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 349,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "Wajir West, ODM",
    "speaker_title": "Hon. Yussuf Farah",
    "speaker": null,
    "content": "Thank you, Hon. Temporary Speaker for giving me this opportunity to contribute to this Equalization Fund Appropriation (No.2) Bill (Senate Bill No.30 of 2023). At the outset, I support this Bill. The essence of this Bill was to give 0.5 per cent of the annual revenue of the budget specifically allocated to marginalised areas. The question begs Hon. Temporary Speaker, where are these marginalised areas and how did it come about to the minds of the drafters of the Constitution during 2010? The Constitution of Kenya 2010 was drafted by brilliant minds who went all over this country and came to understand where it is marginalised and where it is not marginalised. They included this Fund to bring some parts of this country at a par with the rest of the counties. It becomes very worrying when all the counties in this country are classified as marginalised in the same marginalisation fund which never grows from the 0.5 per cent. Thirty four counties have been indicated in this Bill to benefit from the marginalisation fund. I request Hon. Members to change the name “Equalisation Fund” to something else because this is not equalisation any more. This is like appropriating a parallel budget afresh for each and every county. I have been hearing some Members saying that some parts of their constituencies are dry. We are not talking about the climate but the problems and challenges that is in that particular constituency. In Wajir West Constituency, for example, one health centre is 200 kilometres away from another. When a mother is taken to the hospital which is from one village to another, she dies in the middle if she does not get a private vehicle or an ambulance. Someone who has a health centre which is two kilometres away is telling us that they are marginalised. I appeal to the Members of this House to visit my constituency at my expense so that they see and appreciate the problems that the people of the North have. Northern Kenya is ongoing as we speak. People are talking about North Eastern region being given more share than theirs. We get even less because the trillions that are appropriated by the National Government do not trickle down to Northern Kenya. Recently, one of the constituencies in this country got Ksh1.5 billion for roads while my constituency got none. If we go through the budget line by line to see how much allocation is meant for the Northern Kenya, most of the Members of this House will be shocked beyond words. 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."
}