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{
    "id": 1489935,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/1489935/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 80,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "Sen. Kisang",
    "speaker_title": "",
    "speaker": {
        "id": 2263,
        "legal_name": "William Kipkemoi Kisang",
        "slug": "william-kipkemoi-kisang"
    },
    "content": "However, the National Assembly goes ahead and removes the allocation to the first five counties that they were given, yet the county headquarters are not complete. If you go to Tharaka-Nithi County, and our colleague Sen. Gataya Mo Fire is here, he will tell you that it is incomplete. It is a shell. So, by not giving them what had been proposed, we are saying that let the projects continue to stall. This is unfair. Completing projects has become more expensive because of our insensitivity to not allocating resources. We need to be champions of devolution. This means rejecting anything that reduces resources going to our counties. Other functions are supposed to be handed to the counties, and the resources must follow them. How can we reduce the allocation to counties further instead of giving out more resources? Last year, libraries were given to the counties, and resources followed, and this year, I am told they are removing them. So, how do they expect the libraries within the counties to pay the employees, buy new books, and ensure the libraries have adequate books for young people to read and do research? I beg to support the Report and reject these amendments. We also urge our colleagues who will be in the Mediation Committee to put their foot down. They should not accept anything less than the Kshs391 billion they proposed earlier. Otherwise, we need to go back to Kshs400 billion, so that our counties can function. We want to inform the Cabinet Secretary for National Treasury and Economic Planning, who was our colleague in the National Assembly, that the law is clear. Resources must be sent to the counties by the 15th of every month. Since July this year, our counties have not received any resources from their Exchequer. How do they expect them to function? How do they expect them to pay salaries? The reason we have a lot of pending bills within the counties is because of this. Another issue is own source revenue. We need to give our governors notice. They need to implement proper revenue systems so that they can collect revenue. Some of them are still collecting resources manually. If they collect resources manually, you do not expect them to know where the funds are going. We support the idea of having one unified revenue management system for the counties, just like they have IFMIS for expenditures, so that they can seal any loopholes or leakages in revenue collection. Mr. Speaker, Sir, I support the Report and reject the amendments from the National Assembly. Thank you."
}