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{
    "id": 1505560,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/1505560/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 176,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "Sen. M. Kajwang’",
    "speaker_title": "",
    "speaker": {
        "id": 13162,
        "legal_name": "Moses Otieno Kajwang'",
        "slug": "moses-otieno-kajwang"
    },
    "content": "We have assumed that wages in county governments should be 35 percent and above. The question is, what is the authority behind that? The International Monetary Fund (IMF) did a study that indicates that in the most efficient municipalities and urban areas and cities, the proportion that goes to wages is seven percent. I will be happy to share with Senators that report of the IMF. The global standard or the gold standard when it comes to human resource and wages is seven percent. We have institutionalized 35 percent, which is five times the gold standard and in many cases, counties are at 60 percent. Now that counties are receiving less money because that is the reality, even if it is cent for cent with what they received last year; what they got last year is not compared to this year is not the same because of inflation and other factors. In reality, therefore, counties are getting less money. We want to encourage county governments to stop this issue of hiring people who are eventually going to be their agents or who are going to be their political campaigners in the next elections; that county governments must finalize that process of rationalization of the workforce so that we can release more resources to go into development. Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir, county governments must also cut down on wastage. There is a lot of wastage in counties. As a Chair of an oversight committee, it is my view that 20 percent of what goes to counties is wasted. Some of it, wasted not in terms of theft, but wasted in terms of redundant things and activities that do not add any value to the lives of our people. We have seen small, small things that translate into big things, like a small leak in a boat that can capsize it. The grandeur, the podiums, the entourage and the protocol around some of our governors and if you put it all together, it will translate into billions of shillings. What if we just became servant leaders and dropped the showbiz or some of those protocol things that incur unnecessary additional resources? County governments would then redirect more to much more useful processes. We sent out our team to mediate, but I will need to be convinced that this is the best outcome that we could get. This is because my county of Homa Bay is bound to lose out on what had originally been promised. The county had already done a budget and now they have to do a supplementary budget even before the first budget has been implemented. Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir, I am generally against this decision of the mediation committee."
}