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{
    "id": 1613742,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/1613742/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 161,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "Sen. Ali Roba",
    "speaker_title": "",
    "speaker": null,
    "content": "amount of force from the State that could sway the position the Senators took in order to carry the entire country along. I rise to support the concept of carrying everybody along, especially the 11 counties that are receiving less money. In the wisdom of the committee, initially we proposed Kshs2 billion to be shared equally among the 11 counties with insights that the original proposed division of revenue for this current financial year was Kshs400.01 billion. The Division of Revenue Bill that was passed by the National Assembly for the coming financial year stands at Kshs405 billion while that which was passed by the Senate is Kshs465 billion. Now we are heading for mediation. Therefore, it is important to reflect on the results of the past mediation in terms of how much more money we got. Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir, when we had a mediation committee that was chaired by you, we got very little amount in terms of increase in sharable revenue for counties. In the last one that we mediated, we negotiated from Kshs385 billion to Kshs387.425 billion. That was literally Kshs2 billion only in terms of an increase from the mediation. I would like to throw a word of caution, so that we debate in the context of other realities that are beyond our control such as the result that may come out of the mediation that has no guarantee. While we will push as hard as possible as Senators to get more money for sharable revenue to the county governments, be informed by the fact that the last meaningful increase on sharable revenue from the Government was in Financial Year 2020/2021. Since then, the cumulative increase is about Kshs70 billion. Considering that there is a new formula, it is high time we pushed to get a little bit more. Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir, those are just expectations. The reality is that the current sharable revenue is Kshs387.425 billion. What was originally proposed in the Division of Revenue Act (DORA) that was amended because of the circumstances surrounding the Finance Bill brought it down from Kshs400.01 billion to Kshs387 billion. Now, the National Assembly has proposed Kshs405 billion. In real sense, the increase on sharable revenue is from Kshs400.01 billion to Kshs405 billion. What is proposed in this amendment is to get Kshs4.6 billion to 11 counties. If we hit the reality of reaching a dead end in the negotiations or mediation between us, based on other past events and if that reality takes us to Kshs405 billion, it means the entire sharable revenue will have increased from Kshs400 billion to Kshs405 billion to be shared between the 11 and other 36 counties may not have much gain from the current sharable revenue increase. As I support, I would like to caution my colleagues, hon. Senators, to be cognizant of this reality. The most ideal position was to share what is feasible now and what we needed to amend when we realised a lot later. These 11 counties have a challenge and the proposal to carry them along is noble. They need to be considered. On that principle, I believe it will bring the entire Senate on board. The degree of consideration though must be informed by the realities of what we can achieve from the sharable revenue after mediation which I support. I wanted to put that caution as the Chairperson of the Committee on Finance and Budget, so that as we carry everybody along, we also do not put the other 36 counties to grave disadvantage. 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."
}