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{
    "id": 1460781,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/1460781/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 333,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "Seme, ODM",
    "speaker_title": "Hon. (Dr) James Nyikal",
    "speaker": null,
    "content": "was done by the Commission for the Implementation of the Constitution (CIC), that was a body where all the laws were looked into. So, this is something we should look into. It did not happen, but we should do it now. It has been talked about long enough. The other aspect of devolution that comes to mind is the functions. If you look at them generally, coming up with policies and standards is a function of the national Government, while rendering a lot of services are functions of the county governments. However, we still have huge sums of money that remain at the national level. We thought policies would take less money. In my mind, devolving functions is incomplete. If you look at the health sector, for example, many functions that could be under county governments are still with the national Government. What happens with health, water, agriculture, and early childhood education in county governments does not link to policies that are done by the national Government. It concerns delivery, but not just in the functions like education, and security that are national. If you look at it carefully, it doubles what the county level would do and yet, issues of policy and standards remain un-addressed because the national Government is not doing them. The other issue we should probably look at is the budget process. By the time the Budget Policy Statement (BPS) is tabled to give rise to the Division of Revenue Bill, the National Assembly that deals with the budget process knows very little of the needs of the counties. We have had to go into mediation every time. When it comes from there, we understand the needs of the counties. We should not understand when we have disagreed. If the Inter-governmental Budget and Economic Council (IBEC) together with the Commission on Revenue Allocation took this matter seriously, I have always thought needs of the county governments should have been compiled by the time the BPS is tabled. They should even be available to the National Assembly and the Senate to look through so that we do not have situations like now. When we are saying that we have given above the constitutional requirement of 15 per cent of audited accounts, you will find that 75 per cent of the money is still with the national Government. I think we should look at those issues. We need to look at what IBEC and the Commission on Revenue Allocation do. We should look at how the information they have feeds into the discussions of division of revenue. Finally, Hon. Temporary Speaker, as all Members who spoke before me said, we should look at the local revenue to be raised by county governments seriously. I know they deal with it locally. With the national Government, we clearly know what Appropriations-in-Aid (A-in- A) will be raised by the time we are doing sharing. On the other hand, we have no idea what county governments will raise. Again, we are in the dark in that area. We should look at all those things in our devolution. Maybe, it is somebody to look at the Constitution again, particularly in relation to resources so that we tidy that up. With that, I support the Bill."
}