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{
    "id": 1462686,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/1462686/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 255,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "Sen. Cheruiyot",
    "speaker_title": "The Senate Majority Leader",
    "speaker": {
        "id": 13165,
        "legal_name": "Aaron Kipkirui Cheruiyot",
        "slug": "aaron-cheruiyot"
    },
    "content": " Madam Temporary Speaker, I will be very brief because I just want to correct one misnomer that has been said by my good friend, Sen. (Dr.) Khalwale. It is good that I give him history. The reason I did not interject him is because he posed a very important question before actually saying the things he said about Kericho County. He asked what happened because by its design and architecture, the equalization fund is set aside to rectify wrongs of years gone by where certain sections of the country were marginalised. Either intentionally or unintentionally by successive regimes to a point that if you compare the living standards of residents in a particular part of the country and those of another, then you appreciate that there is need to bring all our citizens at par and appreciate that we live in one country. We all contribute to taxes and we should get services in equal measure. Before Sen. (Dr.) Khalwale left this House in 2017, the first allocation of equalization fund - and we served with him in the Committee on Finance and Budget - was by counties. At that particular point, we believed that there are certain regions or even counties that had been marginalized for long time. In their review post the 2019 Census, the Kenya National Bureau of Statistics working together with County Revenue Allocation (CRA) and the Senate reviewed the qualifications of equalization fund not to be on a broader geographical space like a county and region, but brought it actually to the ward level, which is the least administrative unit that is known to the Kenyan constitution. Madam Temporary Speaker, it is not right to think just in terms of a particular county or even a constituency. If you see a particular county listed, it is because there are one, two, three, or even four sometimes, wards in that particular part of the county, that if he was to visit today--- I would wish to challenge Sen. (Dr.) Khalwale that as he drives home this weekend instead of driving the Londiani route, which he is fond of using, to drive all the way through Kericho Town. I wish you would visit the lower parts of Kericho, the sugarcane-growing regions because he will appreciate why Soin and Soliyat wards, for example, qualify to benefit from equalization fund. He will appreciate that indeed those regions are needy and they are there by right. That was brilliant work that was done by the Senate Standing Committee on Finance and Budget together with the CRA and Kenyan National Bureau of Statistics. They mapped out the poverty levels in the various parts of the country. If it was left to Governor Fernandez Barasa on his own to distribute these resources, chances are that he may just do what we politicians do many times, which is to distribute resources depending on political whims of the day. 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."
}