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{
    "id": 1581321,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/1581321/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 99,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "Sen. Olekina",
    "speaker_title": "",
    "speaker": null,
    "content": "national Government and the county governments, but in our culture, we normally say, ‘do not fight me before you speak to me.’ Mr. Speaker, Sir, I took the liberty to engage with the Chairperson of the Committee on Finance and Budget of the Senate to be able to understand the reasoning behind them accepting to deviate from, number one, the Kshs465 billion that this Senate had passed. Number two, from the position that we had taken in the agreement between ODM Party and the others in terms of working together, which was to be able to send Kshs450 billion to our counties. One of the things that the Chairperson shared with me is a reality that in most cases even the money which is allocated to the national Government; that money is never there. It is only good on paper, but in reality, that money is never there. What I can see from the mediated version is that the national Government will keep about Kshs2.3 trillion, while the county governments will take about Kshs415 billion. The reality is that in most cases, you will find that the money which is allocated to national Government, is only good on paper, but the reality is that it is followed by several supplementary budgets that are never met. This is the reason we have so many pending bills that are yet to be met. If there is one person who is very happy today it is me. I am happy because of only one factor when it comes to the issue of budgeting for nation building. This is the only budget in the history of this Parliament that has not factored in money from the International Monetary Fund (IMF). I long for the time that we can build our own-source revenue and free ourselves from shackles of the Bretton Woods Institutions. I am among those people who do not subscribe to their thinking at all. I am happy that in this budget, the national Government has been able to go down by Kshs200 billion, which they were expecting to get from the IMF. I wish that IMF do not fund Kenya. It is about time that we learn how to live within our means. The issue of supplementary budgets is another big monster that one day this country will only grow and develop when we do away with supplementary budgets. You can have paper money, Kshs2.3 trillion, but at the end of the financial year, you do not end up spending that money. You end up having pending bills that will end up killing some of the citizens of your country. Let me applaud the Mediation Committee team from the Senate for taking bold steps. This is because I have been in this Senate now for about seven years and I can tell you that this is the single most increment of money that is allocated to county governments since I have been here; within a year. I am wondering why am I not being given time. Thank you. I hope that was not intended; it was just a mistake. Mr. Speaker, Sir, getting Kshs28 billion additional from Kshs387 billion to go to counties is commendable. For five years, we voted 13 times to agree on the basis of the third formula to share revenue between national Government and county governments, the only amount we were able to make sure it was there as a base was Kshs370 billion. The maximum that we were able to get was an additional Kshs17 billion within those five years to Kshs387 billion. Now we have moved from Kshs387 billion to Kshs415 billion. The difference between the money which is being sent to the county governments and the 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."
}