Entry Instance

HTTP 200 OK
Allow: GET, PUT, PATCH, DELETE, HEAD, OPTIONS
Content-Type: application/json
Vary: Accept

{
    "id": 1550631,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/1550631/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 562,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "Kibwezi West, MCCP",
    "speaker_title": "Hon. Mwengi Mutuse",
    "speaker": null,
    "content": " Thank you, Hon. Temporary Speaker, for the opportunity. First, I approached the Chair for priority to speak because I have an emergency, and you have acceded to my request. I thank you most specially. Second, I thank and congratulate the Budget and Appropriations Committee Chairperson, Hon. Samuel Atandi, for the good stewardship thus far. I was recently appointed to the Committee. Hon. Atandi and I come a long way. We knew each other when we were in university. He was at Egerton University while I was at the University of Nairobi. We participated in many public affairs. We were student leaders. Right from his youth, he had a lot of interest in public affairs and fairness. I have a lot of confidence in him chairing the Committee of the august House. Through him and the rest of the Members of that Committee, Kenya will see fairness in the distribution of resources. Allow me to delve a little bit into the historical path that has led us to where we are. Many Kenyans know that we went through a long period of struggle to pluralise our politics from one-party dictatorship and to agitate for constitutional reforms. The reasons for agitating for constitutional reforms were chiefly about two. One was to dismantle what had become the imperial presidency so that power could be shared and dispersed. The second was to dismantle the imperial presidency so that resources raised nationally would be fairly divided amongst different parts of this country and its communities. One of the most important things that happened to this country in 2010, having had many years of Independence, was the creation of two levels of Government so that vertical division of resources could be realised. The vertical division I refer to is a division of revenue between the national and county governments, the two levels of Government as they are known under the Constitution. I say this because there is a notion that has been created in the country that the National Assembly is opposed to devolution. Speaking to many Members of this august House, many of us support devolution as the number one thing that happened to this country, which is to equalise the sharing of resources. I therefore contribute in support of the Division of Revenue Bill because we support devolution and want it to last. One of the ways used in the ancient days to kill devolution was to deny devolved levels of government finances. I want to be on record that we will not be the Parliament that will deny our second level of government resources. Having said that, allow me to go to the constitutional basis upon which we tabled the Division of Revenue Bill."
}