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{
    "id": 1505580,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/1505580/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 196,
    "type": "other",
    "speaker_name": "",
    "speaker_title": "",
    "speaker": null,
    "content": "Section 5 of the Division of Revenue Act (DORA) 2024 clearly states that in case of a revenue shortfall, it shall be borne by the national Government. Similarly, in case of excess revenue collection, it shall accrue to the national Government and may be used to reduce the deficit or defray the public debt. Because of this reason, I reject this report. If the revenues have gone down, that should not be a burden of the counties. It is upon the national Government to look for ways of managing the shortfall. The money that we sought, which took us to Kshs400 billion, was meant to deal with additional funding that was required as a result of policies that were introduced by the national Government. For example, the Housing Levy, enhanced National Social Security Fund (NSSF) contributions, and funding for Community Health Promoters (CHPs) and also the County Aggregation and Industrial Parks (CAIPs). These have enhanced the budgetary requirements of our counties. It was because of this that the Senate thought it was wise that we peg the figure at Kshs400 billion. If we go to Kshs387 billion, it means we will not have resolved the problem of additional expenditure as a result of national Government policies. Because of that, I reject this report. Having said that, I know there are many arguments. Every time people want to deny counties money, they say there are governance and accountability problems. We agree that there are problems, but we cannot use that as the main justification for denying our counties money. The Constitution is very clear that 15 per cent of the national revenues should go to the counties. So, we cannot use that as a basis for denying our counties money. It is becoming very difficult to manage our counties. They may be having accountability problems, but it is becoming very difficult because, first, there is a delay in disbursing money by the National Treasury to the County Revenue Fund (CRF) accounts. Second, when the money gets to CRF accounts, there is another office in this country that called the office of the Controller of Budget (CoB). Counties are spending millions of shillings for officers to travel from their counties just to come and submit papers seeking requisition approvals when the CoB has offices in every county. What are they doing? Why has the CoB not automated service of 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."
}