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{
    "id": 380927,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/380927/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 243,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "July 17, 2013 SENATE DEBATES 34 Sen. Kagwe",
    "speaker_title": "",
    "speaker": null,
    "content": "Madam Temporary Speaker, I stand guided in this. Thank you, Sen. Murkomen. The national Government is, in whatever name, devolving deficits into counties. I said that we must be very careful in deficit financing. We must realise very consciously that we will not develop the marginalized areas by way of bringing down the counties that appear, in our terms - because we are a non-developed country anyway - developed. This is an illusion anyway because we are not developed. Two weeks ago, I went round with the Committee on Education, Information and Technology. I was surprised because the people we were travelling with around Nyeri, Laikipia and Kirinyaga had not been to that region. They were shocked at the kind of poverty they saw in that region. They wondered whether that was really Nyeri, Kirinyaga and, in general, the Central Province they are told about. We do not really know our country. Consequently, when we see some of these things, we think that, probably, we should remove funds from here and take them there. This is not an issue of either removing funds from one government or the so-called developed counties or taking them to marginalized counties. This is about providing funds, so that the ones that are doing well can continue doing well. Those that are not doing well can be enhanced to do much better and, hopefully, catch up with the others. We must also appreciate that devolution is not an event. It does not happen at a certain instance in time and then stops. Devolution is a process by which our nation has developed faster than it has been growing. Secondly, it is a process by which counties that have been disadvantaged in the past can also develop at a much faster rate than the so-called developed so that with time, there is a level of equity and development. Therefore, it is important for the Cheserem Commission to appreciate that it is not enough to say that we will remove the financing that should make counties “harmless.” I have a few examples here. The New Nyanza General Hospital, for example, caters for a large area, including some parts of Uganda. When you say that money that should be devolved to the New Nyanza General Hospital and managed by the Kisumu County is a lot and, therefore, since we want to equalize Kisumu and Nyeri counties, this money should be divided amongst the other counties, what does that mean? The effect is as follows. It is either; (a) that the hon. Senator from Kisumu with his Governor will eventually agree to close the New Nyanza General Hospital because unless they can pay the staff at the hospital, then they will not operate it; (b) they can also go to the national Government and ask for funds according to Section 6 and, therefore, provide extra funding that is not within the Kshs210 billion to finance that hospital or, (c) they can also decide not to devolve that function. It can stay with the national Government until such a time when it can be devolved with the commensurate funding for the responsibility. The electronic version of the Senate Hansard Report is for information purposes only. A certified version of this Report can be obtained from the Hansard Editor, Senate."
}