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{
    "id": 1504411,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/1504411/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 322,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "Hon. Jematiah Sergon",
    "speaker_title": "",
    "speaker": null,
    "content": "(Baringo County, UDA) Thank you very much, Hon. Deputy Speaker. At the outset, I support this Report of the Mediation Committee on the Division of Revenue (Amendment) Bill. It took time for the two Houses to conclude it. It will give counties a reprieve at these trying and hard economic times. I sit in the Budget and Appropriations Committee. I am aware that in June this year, we were unable to pass our Finance Bill. That has brought out a lot of deficits, specifically in management of money that goes to the counties. The drafters of the Constitution had a lot of hope, but they did not have proper information on how we should elect our governors. The money is not a problem. Today, we have agreed—through the Division of Revenue (Amendment) Bill—that Ksh377 billion will be disbursed to the counties. I pray that we will collect and disburse it within good time, so that counties can render services. Just like most of the Members have said, we got it wrong at the outset on the mode of electing our governors who are the managers of counties. It was not good for the Constitution to subject governors to elections. This means it is the competition versus the resources that someone has. So, we are unable to get quality governors to govern and help the counties, specifically the far-flung ones. If you ask me, governors should be appointees. They should be appointed and they do not have to come from the locality. They should have proper careers to manage resources. Today, we are grappling with the level of incompetence of governors. Most of the first governors tried to put in place structures to enable the counties to function. Subsequently, the second and third ones have a lot of imbalances. It is because we subject them to elections. To be a governor in Kenya today, no one uses less than Ksh50 million to campaign. We are crying here today because we do not have money. We are complaining about the services that the governors do not render to the people. This is because of the way we established these counties. The counties in this country are too many; 47 counties. They are too many that sometimes you wonder whether we need villages. The counties were established on tribal basis like Kisii County and Turkana County. This gives way for proper corruption to thrive. If I am a governor and everyone within the locality is from my tribe, I will employ probably a relative. The people who helped me to campaign will be at the forefront to make sure that they are employed. Most of them are not always qualified. So, we created small dynasties that embezzle the resources of the people. More so, through the Constitution, it was very wrong for us to devolve health and basic education functions. This is day-to-day life survival. A week ago, we had an event in Baringo County and there was nothing in Baringo County Referral Hospital. You cannot even find a shelf of drugs. The doctors are always on strike. There is a problem. Most of these counties do not have any revenue. When they collect own source revenue, it is very little. If it is there, the"
}