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{
    "id": 1488287,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/1488287/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 384,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "Nairobi County, ODM",
    "speaker_title": "Hon. Esther Passaris",
    "speaker": null,
    "content": " Thank you, Hon. Temporary Speaker, for giving me an opportunity to contribute to the Motion on the consideration of the Senate Amendments to the Division of Revenue (Amendment) Bill, (National Assembly Bill No.38 of 2024), that was brought by the Chairperson of the Budget and Appropriations Committee. When he coined the word ‘devolution’, my party leader – who is, hopefully, the incoming Chair of the African Union Commission (AUC), had the notion that every part of Kenya should feel it is in Kenya. There was a time when people from the North Eastern region used to say that they were going to Kenya whenever they travelled to Nairobi. It is because their areas were neglected in terms of development. Devolution has seen money going to almost every part of this country. The thing is the results. We have seen many wealthy people coming out of county governments. However, we have not seen equal results in the populace. We have not seen a growing middle class. We have not seen infrastructure to support the people of this country that has been put in place. Even as the Senate brings proposals to the National Assembly asking for the county governments’ rightful share, the Senate should appreciate that their rightful share can only be given if the country is doing very well financially. Because of what happened to the Finance Bill of 2024, we do not have the right amount of revenue that is needed right now. The vision of the President to ensure that this country becomes debt-free is one of the best ways to ensure that we end up with more money going to devolution. We will save Ksh1 trillion annually once we reduce the debt that is owed by Kenya. That money can be used to do so much for this country. What the Senate is asking for the counties is an additional Ksh20 billion. That gap can be filled just by the Senate doing its job of ensuring that the county governments operate efficiently and enhance the collection of their own revenues locally. There is much money that is being siphoned out of the county governments. The Senate is meddling in the affairs of the National Assembly, instead of focusing on county governments. I saw them summon Adani in the recent past. What they did was not work for the Senate. They are just creating drama. I think they are not focussing on the job they are mandated to do. Their job is to ensure that devolution works. Devolution is not working in the manner it should. If we have to give devolution a scorecard, I do not think we can give it even 50 per cent. Why? They are not improving on revenue collection. They are not improving on dealing with corruption. Right now, this country is crippled because of the failures of devolution. The growth of pending bills in the county governments is becoming a shame. We have Kenyans out there who have supplied goods and services to county governments, but they have not been paid for the last three terms that the county governments have been in existence. The county governments say that they need to form committees to look at whether they owe any money. It is becoming really sad. Kenyans are financing the operations of county governments by providing goods and services, but they are not being paid. The electronic version of the Official Hansard Report is for information purposesonly. A certified version of this Report can be obtained from the Hansard Editor."
}