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{
    "id": 1527118,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/1527118/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 268,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "Moiben, UDA",
    "speaker_title": "Hon. Phylis Bartoo",
    "speaker": null,
    "content": "have been purchased are just idle. The county government cannot fuel those machines for the road network to be improved. This Bill is very important. It should be dealt with the urgency it deserves so that our counties can continue with their operations. Secondly, is the issue of the health promoters. They are supposed to be given a very small monthly stipend of Ksh5000, which is not even enough but they are not even getting that money. There is no money in our counties yet we are giving them additional work. They are supposed to be registering people with the SHA as well as sensitising them on the same. They do that job diligently but at the end of the day, they do not have anything to take home. If we are supposed to make SHA functional, this money should be released to the counties so that they can run smoothly. Thirdly, there are no medications in our hospitals. In fact, as I was coming to Parliament a few minutes ago, I met a group of health workers demonstrating in the streets. That is a clear indication that our county the governments are not working. They are not operating because they do not have resources. They use the little resources they have to support other services because they are not enough. Additionally, there is the issue of distribution of fertilisers, which was devolved to counties. This is very key during the planting season. The county governments are supposed to do the last mile of distributing the fertilisers from the National Cereals and Produce Board (NCPB) to different cooperative societies in different wards. Unfortunately, they are not able to do so. If you go to the NCPB stores in Uasin Gishu, you will find farmers angling for fertilizers. The county government is not able to transport the fertilisers from the NCPB depot to the cooperative societies in the region because they do not have resources. If devolution was supposed to make life easy for our citizens, then we had better dispense this money so that the common mwananchi can feel its effects. If there is an obstacle in the disbursement of this money, it should be removed so that members of our communities can benefit. For instance, if the Senate is the problem, and they want any funding through this Bill, they should wait until this one is dispensed with quickly. At the end of the day, we all serve the same mwananchi. The mwananchi who elected the Senator is the same mwananchi who elected the Governor, the Member of Parliament, and the Member of County Assembly. Let us, therefore, put our differences aside and look at what benefits mwananchi directly. Let us sort out other issues independently and not put obstacles that make the lives of our citizens difficult. For example, in my County of Uasin Gishu, specifically in my own Constituency of Moiben, we did the ground-breaking ceremony for a County Aggregation and Industrial Park. On that day, we were very excited that it would bring great value to the lives of farmers, mama mboga and everybody else in Moiben. It is now two years down the line. The building is just in a sorry state. There is no work going on because there is no money. I wish the disbursement of these resources could be fast-tracked so that execution of all the commissioned projects in the counties can commence. When projects are not completed on time, there is always an element of extra cost occasioned by such delays. Delays may also lead to contractors taking legal action against the county governments because contractors cannot just sit and wait for a decision to be made so that they are paid. People work under timelines. When they are not paid, they go to court, and the courts award them hefty compensation. Who bears such burden? It is the county government and, by extension, the Government of Kenya. I pray that we pass this Bill quickly to ensure that the money goes straight to the county governments, so that the county governments can serve the people of Kenya. I hope the money will be used for the purpose it is intended. Let us not have a scenario where resources are disbursed but are diverted to purposes they were not intended for. I wish the passage of this Bill could be fast-tracked so that the county governments can be up and running to serve of the people of Kenya. With those remarks, I beg to support. The electronic version of the Official Hansard Report is for information purposesonly. A certified version of this Report can be obtained from the Hansard Editor."
}