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{
"id": 1626292,
"url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/1626292/?format=api",
"text_counter": 264,
"type": "speech",
"speaker_name": "Sen. Cheruiyot",
"speaker_title": "The Senate Majority Leader",
"speaker": null,
"content": "Sen. Tabitha, you are here as the Vice-Chairperson of the Budget and Finance Committee. You will have let down the country if you do not call to order the National Treasury to give you, one, the feasibility studies that are done across all the 47 counties before signing up for all these programmes that are listed here; the justification why this programme needs to run in our counties. Part of the reason Kenyans chose devolution in 2010 was self-governance. I would rather we put those funds in the hands of our county governments and let the people decide through their representatives in the county assembly and the governors that they elect on their priority areas. If you read this report by our colleagues, from paragraph 27, there is Aquaculture Business Development Programme (ABDP), Kshs200 million. International Development Association (IDA) - World Bank, on this thing they call Financially Locally Led Climate Action (FLOCA) programme, Kshs121 million. There is another one by IDA, part of the FLOCA, a grant of Kshs6.2 billion. There is the German Development Corporation (GDC), also on FLOCA, Kshs1.2 billion, with 16 counties. No direction specifically on how those 16 counties were agreed upon. There is another one for Food System Resilience Programme (FSRP) funded by IDA, the development agency of the World Bank, Kshs3.2 billion. Drought Resilience Programme (DRP) for Northern Kenya by the German Development Corporation (GDC), sum of Kshs1.28 billion. There is this one that I am talking about, Kenya Devolution Support Programme (KDSP). One is a grant of Kshs1.762 billion to all the 47 counties and others. There is KDSP Phase 2. This one now is not a grant. There is Kenya Livestock Commercialization (KLC) and the Kenya Urban Support Programme (KUSP). There is Danida for primary health, water and sanitation. There is also the Kenya Informal Settlement Improvement Programme, Kshs1 billion. This is the one that I mentioned earlier, by World Bank, Kshs840 million. There are about 20 different programmes that are being run. If you ask the members of Budget and Finance Committee to explain to us, as a House, what the conceptualization of this programme was. What is the county-specific justification provided to say we need to do some climate action, improve our livestock or our informal settlement? Some counties, like where I come from, and even this, Sen. Cherarkey, there is nothing of significance that you can call a slum. A total of 200, 300, 400 or 500 people living in some form of settlement at a corner in the county does not qualify or pass for an informal settlement. That money can be put to more prudent use. I wish we had turned those resources into agriculture farm support programme, so that we support either our tea or our sugarcane farmers. We would get more value out of it as a country and as a county. Unless there is proper justification on these programmes provided to us here in the Senate as a custodian of the interest of county governments and its people, we need to make a decision before the next financial year. We can let these ones pass because we have already made a decision about it, but there needs to be a better administration of this space. Perhaps, at the next joint retreat of the House, we can invite the partners that are running all these programmes to explain to us and help us appreciate what their thinking is, so that we equally share our feedback with them. I do not want to take longer than that 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."
}