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{
    "id": 1604292,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/1604292/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 247,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "Sen. Oketch Gicheru",
    "speaker_title": "",
    "speaker": null,
    "content": "close to any stream of water, then women in Nyamira County still wake up very early in the morning to go and fetch water. I have also visited Sen. Osotsi. Women in Vihiga County still wake up very early in the morning to go and fetch water. The same applies to Samburu County. This money will not be enough for them, even if you were to give them Kshs465 billion. That amount is still not enough to solve the problems in Nyamira, Elgeyo- Marakwet and Embu counties. We were sent here to fight for counties to receive resources adequate enough to make the devolved functions work. They cannot work with Kshs405 billion. They can only work if we fight to ensure that counties get Kshs465 billion. Yesterday, I saw the Cabinet Secretary for the National Treasury and Economic Planning speaking very proudly about the allocation of billions of shillings to the national Government to deal with primary health care and issues of water. The Ministry was allocated over Kshs100 billion, yet, counties are left here fighting over Kshs47 billion to manage a devolved health function. We cannot accept this. It cannot be that the Ministry of Water, Sanitation and irrigation is given more money than counties combined, when the entire provision of water is devolved. The Water Service Providers (WSPs) are struggling with loans without any effort by the national Government to save them. Assets have not been transferred to these WSPs. They do not even have proper asset registers because the national Government has not accepted to transfer those assets to them. The moment we allow that every year we are going to be given a budget in this House that keeps on funding devolved functions through the Ministries, Departments, and Agencies (MDAs), we are doing a disservice to all these devolved functions. If the National Treasury wants to have a genuine conversation with the Senate about ensuring service to the people, it must begin with the real cost of running functions in the counties. What is the cost of running policy functions in health care and the cost of operating referral hospitals, which are the only two functions of the national Government,"
}