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{
    "id": 1583250,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/1583250/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 208,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "Ruaraka, ODM",
    "speaker_title": "Hon. TJ Kajwang’",
    "speaker": null,
    "content": " Hon. Temporary Speaker, even though I do not intend to marshal two-thirds of the House to overturn this Bill, I must speak to the negative. I find the formula adopted by the Commission to be fairly simplistic. After 15 years of constitutional implementation, we ought to have reviewed and adopted more robust statistical models for discussions on revenue sharing. When the formula is narrowed down to population, geographic size, and poverty index alone, many other important statistical indicators are excluded. These are indicators which dovetail with production or development in a country. I rise after listening to earlier speakers decry, for instance, why a capital city like Nairobi should be allocated a significant portion of revenue. I wish to defend Nairobi, not because I come from Nairobi City, but because I also live and do business here. Nairobi is the apex. In terms of Gross Domestic Product (GDP) contribution, you develop places where factors of production are easily harnessed and developed to sustain quick and robust changes. That is where we ought to direct our finest infrastructure and resources. The population is fairly industrious, dynamic, and capable of productivity. We must stop thinking in tribal or sub-county terms. We must think nationally. Development of urban centres is not just for the benefit of a region. It is for the benefit of the nation. I would expect development parameters such as development index, life expectancy, reproductive health and access to essential services to be considered. What resources are available in a county? What minerals lie underground? I would have no issue if Taita Taveta, for example, received more money to exploit its mineral wealth. nor would I object to Turkana receiving additional allocations for oil exploration. If we merely distribute money because regions are labelled as counties in the Constitution, just to appease everyone, we fail to create meaningful development and fail to enhance our GDP. We must think as a nation, although there is devolution, which allows us to harness our rural areas. If Migori, for instance, could lead us in terms of GDP growth, let us invest in Migori and use it as a national launchpad towards being like Singapore. We need an intellectual discourse around these formulas. We must think as patriots and move away from thinking of ourselves as small, fragmented entities called counties. The last thing we need to do is allocate funds where money yields more money, and where real happiness results. Sometimes, real happiness is not always about money. Sometimes it is about social protection. Sometimes it is about social justice. Just recently, we saw young people protesting in the streets. That should concern all of us. The indicators of social justice in Nairobi, for example, are alarmingly low. That ought to be a parameter when allocating resources. I admit that this is a complex science. But I urge this House to put its mind to the task. We must develop a more reasonable and widely accepted formula. The electronic version of the Official Hansard Report is for informationpurposes only. A certified version of this Report can be obtained from the Hansard Editor."
}