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{
    "id": 1462709,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/1462709/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 278,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "Sen. M. Kajwang’",
    "speaker_title": "",
    "speaker": {
        "id": 13162,
        "legal_name": "Moses Otieno Kajwang'",
        "slug": "moses-otieno-kajwang"
    },
    "content": "many pockets of marginalisation in Homa Bay County. The islands of Ringiti, Remba, Takawiri, Mfangano and Rusinga are places that have been forgotten over the years. This money must go to Homa Bay in full as approved by the Senate. Madam Temporary Speaker, as a House, we must revisit the regulations under the Equalisation Fund. In the last Parliament, this House passed the regulations under very acrimonious circumstances. Sen. Faki was the then Chair of the Committee on Delegated Legislation when the National Treasury promised that they would bring back those regulations to this House for them to be corrected. This is because the regulations place the responsibility of identifying and making decisions on projects under the Equalisation Fund to county commissioners, Members of National Assembly and likely excluded even county governments. Those regulations must be looked at. We must revisit the Marginalisation Policy. Of course, under the Marginalisation Policy, we came up with some English called, pockets of marginalisation. So, you could even go to the President's home area and claim that there is a location, a sub location or a ward that is a pocket of marginalisation. In the eyes of the public and the nation, this marginalisation fund ideally ought to have gone to those places that have suffered historical injustices. Today, this Fund is going to the backyard of current and past Presidents. That is as a result of a flawed Marginalisation Policy that this House approved. The Equalisation Fund is not there forever. Under Article 204(1)(6), the Equalisation Fund has a sunset of 20 years. In the last 10 years or 11 years, the arrears to the Equalisation Fund is Kshs39.9 billion. When will we ever achieve the objectives of this Fund as specified by the drafters of our Constitution? Madam Temporary Speaker, I reject the National Assembly's proposal and add this; funds that have already been sent to the grassroots should never be allowed to come back to the centre. I take the view, even on the National Government-Constituencies Development Fund (NG-CDF). Even though we do not like the manner in which the NG-CDF is organised and sometimes administered, the Senate should never on any day, say that those billions of shillings that have already been ring-fenced for grassroots development should come back to the centre. If we have issues with NG-CDF and of course, we have issues with NG-CDF, we should look at the structure, the governance, the management and remove politicians from it. It would not be proper for this Senate, which stands for devolved governments, to oppose any funds that have already found their way to the grassroots. This is simply because, when they remain in Nairobi, they will be stolen and used for helicopter rides and fundraisers that do not add value to the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) of this country. We must allocate money to the Equalisation Fund as per Article 204 of the Constitution. We must ring-fence, protect and safeguard all funds that have gone to the grassroots, including what we call the NG-CDF. We can rename it, change the management structure but we should never ever say that that money should come back to the centre. Madam Temporary Speaker, I support the Report of the Committee to reject the amendments of the National Assembly. 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."
}