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{
    "id": 1550663,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/1550663/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 594,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "Nominated, ODM",
    "speaker_title": "Hon. Irene Mayaka",
    "speaker": null,
    "content": "there is consistency in growth. This is one of the things that we really need to encourage counties. Counties can benchmark against each other. They do not have to check what other people are doing in other countries. There are counties with success stories in terms of revenue collection. If we do not deal with this issue, we will continue to have counties that are a cost centre. A cost centre is an organisation that is not making any money. They will continue consuming money in terms of having a bigger allocation for pending bills rather than doing any real development. We keep discussing this issue, but we will need to review how we do things at some point. The second issue is underperformance in revenue collection. This is caused by corruption, spillage of revenue and the fact that most counties have not fully transitioned to the paperless system. When we continue using non-automated revenue systems, it is a source of revenue spillage. Some counties, like my home county of Nyamira, have barriers erected on the road where someone collects money and issues receipts. In this day and age, we should not have that in this country. That results in corruption and revenue spillage, making our counties look like they are not progressive. Another issue the Committee raised is audit. The CRA and CoG partially premised their calculation on the Fourth Revenue Sharing Basis, which is a fantastic formula. But this Parliament has not approved the Basis for use. When you partially base revenue sharing on a formula that has not been officially approved, it creates gaps and audit issues. You have to provide justification for it. This is an issue that we need to look into. We need to understand why the CRA chose to do this so that we do the right thing. I have also noted that we are still using audited and approved revenue based on the 2020/2021 Financial Year. Macroeconomic and microeconomic issues are extremely dynamic. We cannot base revenue sharing on past papers. It is like revising past papers. The crypto currency market is now using Artificial Intelligence (AI) to review markets across the country. It is an extremely fast process, yet we are using the 2020/2021 Financial Year accounts to make decisions that affect the country at this particular moment. We have had conversations about the Equalisation Fund. I agree with Members who have talked about areas that have been largely marginalised, but let us remember that many Kenyans feel marginalised. It has nothing to do with the fact that a place like Nyamira feels very green. There are people in Nyamira who have never seen a good road or electricity and continue to grapple with livelihoods that are not up to date. There are people in Nairobi who live in slums and continue to feel marginalised. Equalisation is a very sensitive matter across the country. It can be likened to the phrase that the same boiling water that softens a potato hardens an egg. There are people who still believe that they are marginalised. Pending bills have made counties become cost centres. Nowadays, money does not spread enough within counties. People do not have money. We need to burn the midnight oil to be up to date with audited and approved accounts. It is incumbent upon us to do the best for the people of Kenya because that is the job they have given us. With those many remarks, I submit and support the Bill. I thank you."
}