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{
    "id": 1626437,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/1626437/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 113,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "Sen. Cheruiyot",
    "speaker_title": "The Senate Majority Leader",
    "speaker": null,
    "content": "Mr. Speaker, Sir, this issue of making general provisions and saying; it is commonly believed that the people in Kwale or others from some other part of the country are poor and yet, there are more rich men in that county who can afford things better than even the so-called “rich counties”. We are not certain. No one has done a study to establish those facts on what would qualify to be a rich or a poor county. We know the Kenya Bureau of Standards (KeBs) publishes these statistics. It is what we used in our formula when we were using the poverty index to make a determination on what is a qualification of an individual. There is something that is of concern to me and I do not know why Members of this Committee approved of this. I have tried to scan through the findings of the Committee deeply. This Committee of Sen. Boni and Sen Faki does not speak to the fact about the recurrent expenditure in the Equalisation Board that we created; a body that distributes just Kshs16 billion is given Kshs504 million. That is a lot of money. It will interest me to know whether the Committee interrogated them and sought to establish what it is that is complex. The CRA had already done the job. It is our duty to determine how much goes to each and individual parts of the country. What is this job that they still have to do that will require a staff establishment that consumes an entire Kshs540 million per financial year? On the National Government Constituencies Development Fund (NG-CDF), we may not like it as Senators, but the way that law was structured continues to impress upon Kenyans because of how lean it is on recurrent expenditure. About 97 per cent of the funds that go to the constituencies go to tangible projects. There is a capping of only 2.5 per cent on recurrent, to keep operations of offices here and there. Mr. Speaker, Sir, it will be my assumption that on a matter as important as the Equalisation Fund that we will limit additional expenditure by way of salaries to individuals, I say this with tremendous respect to the people who work in this institution that this is a matter that should have perhaps one co-ordinator per county to oversee and ensure that whatever Parliament has appropriated is put to prudent use. They write a report and it comes to Parliament. If someone has misappropriated the funds the laws exist on how to punish those individuals. Mr. Speaker, Sir, this is a point of concern, which I hope that when our Committee gets to interact further in their nature of work and perhaps in the new financial year, or later on, Sen. Faki will come back to the House with a recommendation on how to take down that recurrent cost in this Board. It was the thinking of the Kenyan people that we will spend more of these funds in trying to bring equality in the four-listed areas. It is further provided that in Clause 5 that the authorization by the Controller of Budget (CoB) over withdrawal from the Fund, together with written instructions from the Secretary of the Board, through the National Treasury requesting withdrawal, shall be sufficient authority for CBK to pay amounts given in accordance with the approval and instructions given. 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."
}