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{
    "id": 1476026,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/1476026/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 415,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "Sen. Osotsi",
    "speaker_title": "",
    "speaker": {
        "id": 13588,
        "legal_name": "Osotsi Godfrey Otieno",
        "slug": "osotsi-godfrey-otieno"
    },
    "content": "more money, we must be very clear. The money that we are giving our counties must be accounted for and well utilised. Mr. Temporary Speaker, Sir, we continue seeing a lot of issues as has been Auditor- General (AG) and the CoB, are not giving hope to the protectors of devolution, in this case the Senate. We would like to push for more money. However, at the same time, we want to see this money changing lives and being utilised well. We want to see corruption in our county ending. If I approve this - I know my county will get more money - we would like them to invest this money in critical areas. It is saddening that even as we are grappling with the problem of the Wage Bill, most of the counties have gone beyond 35 per cent threshold. They are even doing 80 to 85 per cent to the budget. This is unacceptable. I have been receiving reports that some counties are actually engaged in what I would call employment spree. They are employing many people, even though the AG has raised issues around wage bill. We want to tell governors, and the county governments, that even as we give them more money, they should look at the problem of wage bill. We cannot have a wage bill of over 60 per cent in our counties. What are we doing? We have simply converted our counties into employment bureaus. That was not the spirit of the fathers of devolution in this country. Even as we give you more money, kindly utilize the human resources you have to deliver for your people. Do not use that money to employ more people and add on to the problem of the wage bill. Mr. Temporary Speaker, Sir, we have talked about travel costs. It is unacceptable that travel costs in our counties are skyrocketing. It is very annoying when you hear that a county has spent Kshs400 or Kshs500 million on local travel. This is not just traveling, but another source of corruption. The money that is easily eaten is in the travel budget. We need to put safeguards. We need to ensure that we have set targets on how much can be spent in a county on travel costs. Critical devolved functions are almost collapsing in our counties. The ECDEs and the Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET) are underfunded. Yet a lot of money is being used on things such as travel, that do not add value to our people. Mr Temporary Speaker, Sir, even as we push for more money, we want more money to be appropriated towards critical functions such as ECDEs and TVETs. Matters of water provision and other services must also be prioritised. I will not end this debate before I talk about the matter of disbursement of funds by the National Treasury. The Constitution is very clear that, at least 15 per cent of money raised nationally should be shared with the counties. What is happening is that the national Government is getting money and not prioritising disbursement to counties. The Constitution is very clear; if you make one shilling, 15 cents out of that one shilling should go to the counties and 85 cents should go to the national Government. That is not what is happening. Why should people in the national Government be paid salaries on time while people in counties are living without salaries for months? This is unacceptable. I have said this before that we, as a Senate, are failing our counties on this particular issue of disbursement of funds. Every year, we have approved a disbursement schedule, 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."
}