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{
    "id": 1510020,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/1510020/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 74,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "Sen. Onyonka",
    "speaker_title": "",
    "speaker": {
        "id": 13592,
        "legal_name": "Onyonka Richard Momoima",
        "slug": "onyonka-richard-momoima"
    },
    "content": "Madam Temporary Chairperson, unfortunately, my friend and brother, Sen. (Dr.) Khalwale thinks that you become wise, elderly and smart if you are old. It has nothing to do with age. It has a lot to do with the wisdom, the capacity and the ability for this individual to handle complex and indeed very serious national matters. That gives him the credibility to gleefully accept that title. Without wasting a lot of time, I realized that Kisii County has received the amount of money which is very close to what we received last year. When we were having the mediation, I felt that the National Assembly should have given us more space, so that we could actually remain at the Kshs400 billion that we were talking about. My feeling is that on consultation and discussion at the Committee on Finance and Budget, where I sit, and the Mediation Committee where I was sitting, it was generally agreed by our colleagues that we would accept half a loaf than rejecting everything. This made sense because we did not want to have the Government shut down. My request to the Presidency is that the Executive made various promises during the elections. One of the promises they made is that they were going to devolve functions which were going to be followed by the resources to make those functions operational. So far, we are at two and a half years and that has not happened. I hope that with these discussions which are going on, and particularly with this thing we call broad-based Government, there will be a possibility that we will agree that we are going to persuade the Presidency to devolve those functions which must be devolved. Further to that, I would like to say that the Ministry of Agriculture, Livestock and Fisheries should have been devolved fully. I do not think there is a reason why the Government should be buying fertilizer and supplying it to people. This should be a county function. I also believe that the housing sector should be handled by the county governments, of course with some interfacing with the national Government. All our health facilities at the county governments are having challenges and problems. The structures that are in place to manage these outfits are overwhelming and disappointing. I hope that this House; the Senate, will look at what is happening to our country. By the time we sit here next year, I would hope that we will be able to come up with legislation that is going to make sure that county governments receive their funds effectively from the National Treasury and the Central Bank of Kenya (CBK). They should make sure that the county governments and the assemblies are getting their funds so that they are functional. I would also like to make sure that we can begin to engage other statutory bodies and the constitutional bodies which are mandated to make sure that we start fighting the corruption in our country, so that if anything, we can even create deterrence. 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."
}