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{
    "id": 1483735,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/1483735/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 93,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "Sen. Sifuna",
    "speaker_title": "",
    "speaker": {
        "id": 13599,
        "legal_name": "Sifuna Edwin Watenya",
        "slug": "sifuna-edwin-watenya"
    },
    "content": "The Members need to keep calm because I do not think they will be very happy with what is about to come next. I was a bit worried at the beginning of the term of this Parliament that we had departed from our constitutional duty to be the protectors of counties and their governments as stipulated under Article 96 of the Constitution. Hon. Speaker, let me borrow the words of the Minority Whip that, in fact, this Senate must at every single opportunity stand up to protect devolution and devolved units. That every step that has been made in advancing the cause of devolution must be protected and no single step back must be allowed. I stand to support the Report that has come from the Committee that is ably chaired by Sen. Ali Roba. The National Assembly has tried to reduce a total of Kshs45 billion from the additional allocation to county governments in the amendments to this Bill. The hon. Senators who have spoken before me have spoken about the reduction in RMLF of Kshs10.5 billion. If you look at the totality of the reductions, there are some things that I am sure even Members of the National Assembly would not be able to justify. For instance, they have cut Kshs7.4 million from court fines. Some of our county governments run city courts to enforce local authority laws. This money is collected from the residents of those areas. For example, in Nairobi City, we have our own city court and there can be no justification for why that money should be retained at the national level. Mr. Speaker, Sir, the second one that has caught my eye is a reduction of Kshs1.1 billion on mineral royalties. This is something that is in the law that counties are entitled to a small percentage of the mineral wealth that is exploited in the areas and, therefore, this is something that we cannot support as a House. The most interesting one is the reduction of the allocation to county health promoters from Kshs3.2 billion to Kshs2.5 billion. This is a programme that was launched with much fanfare at Uhuru Park, by none other than the President. How will he explain, because as the Committee rightfully notes, the Kshs2.5 billion is only enough for 86,133 community health Promoters (CHPs) and we have a total of 107,831 of CHPs. What that tells you is that 22,000 CHPs will have no pay for the next financial year and this is something that we cannot countenance. This is a step that we had already taken and there are serious players in the attainment of universal health care and therefore, we cannot support this. The electronic version of the Senate Hansard Report is for information purposesonly. A certified version of this Report can be obtained from the Director, Hansard and AudioServices, Senate."
}