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{
    "id": 1483742,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/1483742/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 100,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "Sen. Cheruiyot",
    "speaker_title": "The Senate Majority Leader",
    "speaker": {
        "id": 13165,
        "legal_name": "Aaron Kipkirui Cheruiyot",
        "slug": "aaron-cheruiyot"
    },
    "content": " Thank you, Mr. Speaker, Sir. I join my colleagues in appreciating the very diligent work of our Budget and Finance Committee. I have not hidden from this House my admiration of the work done by this Committee that I served in my formative years as a legislator. I continue to appreciate the diligence with which they execute the various critical responsibilities bestowed upon them by the Constitution and our Standing Orders. This Committee has proven over the last few sessions of this Senate, that when called upon to stand up for devolution, they do so with much zest. I appreciate the members of this Committee and all those that make the Committee sittings while Sen. Sifuna was a bit more generous with his platitudes, celebrating the Committee. As the Senate Majority Leader, I am always keen to see the Members who sign the reports and I always look through the Committee on Budget and Finance. It gives you an idea of who is present in those meetings. You will consistently note that it is almost all or about the same people, about five or six out of the nine that are members of this Committee that do this work. I celebrate those members under the leadership of Capt. Ali Roba. Mr. Speaker, Sir, I will go straight to the recommendations because I do not need to repeat many of the brilliant things that have been said by colleagues who have spoken ahead of me. I can only appreciate the findings of this Committee, which are quite impressive and they have been able to pinpoint the exact pressure points for our counties. You know, even without the fight of saying we need to add money here and there, you need to first identify allocations that are already set out in law and are already specified that X amount of money go to our counties; like the mineral royalties defined in law. Therefore, there is nothing to fight about. Mr. Speaker, Sir, sometimes you look at the Bills that come from the National Assembly and wonder. I know that for a fact because I served as Chair of the Staff Welfare Committee, that Parliament is made up of the most competent personnel and human resource you can find in this Republic and even beyond. So, what happens when you serve in the National Assembly because I know our staff are diligent? When I served in committees, there were many things we would wish to insert into the Bills, but our clerks and the legal personnel that served with us in those committees would expressly guide us; helping us appreciate that this was outright unconstitutional or against the provisions of the law. Therefore, you find a reduction to royalties that have already been collected, Kshs1.06 billion, proposed, and it passes, and that Committee that considered this Bill has a lawyer, a legislative drafter and a clerk, who understand all these things. I am not focused on the political class because I know what happens in committees sometimes, but I am thinking through provisions of law that are already set out. It is important that Members appreciate the County Government's Additional Allocations Bill is the brainchild of this House, about two years ago. Previously we used to do one Division of Revenue Act (DORA) and you would have separate divisions for additional allocation. However, we felt that it was important because some of these allocations come midway through the year, that we have a stand-alone Bill that helps Senate and institutions of oversight to have a clearer view of both conditional and 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."
}