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{
    "id": 1445791,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/1445791/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 185,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "Sen. Cheruiyot",
    "speaker_title": "The Senate Majority Leader",
    "speaker": {
        "id": 13165,
        "legal_name": "Aaron Kipkirui Cheruiyot",
        "slug": "aaron-cheruiyot"
    },
    "content": "besides setting aside funds for our own use as a people, we had also agreed to set out Kshs600 million plus to five counties to build their county headquarters. I am glad that wisdom prevailed that afternoon and since then, these counties have gone on to put up headquarters. It is unfortunate though that years later, we are here back with a report and we are yet to reap the fruits of that particular decision. Unknown to many, this decision was quite Solomonic. This was the first Conditional Grant. It is after this decision that subsequently, the Senate introduced the concept of Conditional Grants that we have since had on many other projects. Madam Temporary Speaker, I, therefore, move to the first point of this particular debate. It is good because Sen. Ali Roba, the Chairperson of this Committee is in the House and is listening. I wish that we could get similar county-specific reports of projects that have been carried out under subsequent Conditional Grants. Eight years down the line, we are here discussing county headquarters and the fact that billions of monies have been used to build them, yet the people of these five counties have never enjoyed those services. Madam Temporary Speaker, we need to make a firm decision on whether this concept, as we thought of at that particular time, works or does not work. Unfortunately, we have poured out billions of taxpayers' money, yet the citizens from these counties up to today cannot enjoy the services from those particular resources. How many more funds such as Conditional Grants, health, Financing Locally-Led Climate Action (FLLoCA) and many others will we continue to pass in this House? Madam Temporary Speaker, ultimately, the public resources are not any different from our resources. It is your wish as an individual that every time you put out money to do a particular project, you enjoy services from it, whether it is building a house, setting up a business or buying an asset. You want to enjoy that which you have paid for. It is unfortunate that as we sit here today, we are discussing an investment that the citizens of these five counties have not enjoyed eight years down the line. It is their money. They are taxpayers and Kenyan citizens. However, the same repeat stories are all over on Conditional Grants. Therefore, I demand from Sen. Ali Roba and the Committee he leads that we have a special audit of funds under Conditional Grant as well, so that we make a firm decision and agree whether it is sustainable to keep it in that particular model, or we leave all funds to specific counties. They can sit down by whatever means and determine how you want to use those particular funds. Madam Temporary Speaker, I am sure that if the people of these five counties had been left to their own devices and decided on how to fund these particular counties, perhaps their county headquarters or within their budget cycles - because these are almost eight financial years - the five-county governments, would have completed the headquarters. However, because they knew they were waiting for a Conditional Grant that is passed in every financial year budget - even this year in the County Allocation of Revenue Act (CARA) that we passed, there is an allocation of Kshs400 million that would have completed this. That is part of what is contributing to public wastage. Unfortunately, it is something that we picked up from the national Government. Kenyan citizens have paid billions of shillings for buildings all over this town. As we speak today, one of the biggest The electronic version of the Senate Hansard Report is for information purposes only.A certified version of this Report can be obtained from the Director, Hansard and Audio Services,Senate."
}