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"id": 392984,
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"speaker_name": "Sen. Mutula Kilonzo Jnr.",
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"content": "national Government is absolutely unacceptable and contrary to devolution. It is unacceptable for the County Commissioner to be occupying several floors and the Governor and his County Assembly staff are put in a building which suggests that they are squatters. Therefore, I agree with the finding on auditing of assets and this must be done as quickly as possible. Madam Temporary Speaker, in terms of sampling of the counties that they have done, I would suggest that instead of having two counties like Kilifi and Mombasa which would most likely have similar issues, we should suggest that this Committee travels all the way to Samburu, Makueni, Machakos and other far-flung areas, so that the recommendations that they make will cover what, in statistics would be a proper sample. Kilifi and Mombasa, in my own perspective, cannot be called a sample of all counties. Madam Temporary Speaker, with regard to staffing, I recall that recently it was reported in the Press that the Governor of Machakos was having problems with employees of the national Government. He called a Press conference and terminated the services of these people. This recommendation is critical because one of the things that most counties, including Makueni, are facing is payment. This is because a large chunk of the budget which they have been given is going to payment of salaries, as opposed to development. Therefore, these recommendations are timely and action must be taken as quickly as possible. I concur entirely with the sentiments expressed by Sen. Musila in so far as the formula of revenue sharing is concerned. We must find another formula of doing this and the faster we do it, the better, because it is important. Take judicial notice of the fact that the 47 counties in this country, receiving equal amounts of funding are not equal because of the injustices created by all the previous governments in so far as development is concerned. Some counties have been left dwindling in terms of development especially in the lower part of eastern, and they think that Independence never came to this country because they have never seen tarmacked roads, health facilities, et cetera, while some counties in this country have tarmacked roads all the way to cattle dips. It is absolutely unacceptable. Madam Temporary Speaker, in order to address this question of the budget deficits, there are provisions in the County Government Act for making what they call the County Integrated Development Plan (CIPD), which looks at this law again because in the first Budget, countries were allowed to make their budgets and plans. Under normal circumstances, you make your plans and then make your budgets. The reason why most counties are having problems with their budgets is because they started with looking for money and then planning, which has then put them in a quagmire because they have planned yet they have no funds, or vice versa . Therefore, I agree that part of the solution to this problem is what the Senator for Samburu stated; that there should be building of capacity because these people are soon realizing that budget making is not one plus one or two plus two; that it is much more difficult than that. Secondly, Madam Temporary Speaker, the settlement of squatters is something that was mentioned in our Committee on Legal Affairs and Human Rights. We have proposed an amendment to Section 11 of the Prevention, Protection and Assistance to Internally Displaced Persons and Affected Communities Act, 2012 ( No.56 of 2012). The electronic version of the Senate Hansard Report is for information purposesonly. A certified version of this Report can be obtained from the Hansard Editor, Senate."
}