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{
    "id": 358526,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/358526/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 191,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "Hon. Manje",
    "speaker_title": "",
    "speaker": {
        "id": 1669,
        "legal_name": "Joseph Wathigo Manje",
        "slug": "joseph-wathigo-manje"
    },
    "content": "Thank you hon. Speaker for using technology to see me. I want to stand and oppose this Motion because it will set a precedent where county-based parastatals will start agitating for the same thing. We dealt with the Division of Revenue Bill last month, and we allocated revenue to counties. So, if we go ahead and transfer parastatals, it will be like a backdoor allocation of resources. Another issue is that most of these agro-based parastatals are not performing. Last year the Government was in situation where it was to try to resuscitate these parastatals so as to privatize them. It is an on-going situation. I think that is the correct approach; the Government should try to resuscitate the parastatals and then after that it can privatize them. This is a good option. The other point is that these parastatals are not well distributed in the whole country. So, if we say that the parastatals are taken by different counties, we might end up with counties that do not have any of these parastatals. There is another issue that we need to take care of when we are devolving. We have to remain united as a country. Some of the things that make us united are these common assets. So, devolving the parastatals to counties will be a way of setting us apart. So, I think I will oppose this Motion and wait for a time when we will try to audit them, and see how they are distributed in the country because many of them might be within Nairobi. If we transfer all the parastatals to Nairobi, it will mean that we will defeat the logic of devolution. Remember we are allocating resources to counties. We have said that we will give, say, 32 per cent of revenue to the counties, yet we do not have any means of getting revenue from the same counties. So, I oppose this Motion, and say we should shelf it for the time being."
}