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"id": 393014,
"url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/393014/?format=api",
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"type": "speech",
"speaker_name": "Sen. Obure",
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"speaker": {
"id": 118,
"legal_name": "Christopher Mogere Obure",
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"content": "For example, today, if you look at this budget which is functional or which is being operated, if you take the largest 15 counties in this country put together – and we are talking about Nairobi, Kiambu, Kakamega, Bungoma, Mombasa, Nakuru, Kisii – if you add up the amount of revenue allocated to them this financial year, that will be just about equivalent to what we give to the Ministry of Interior and Co-ordination of National Government and the National Intelligence Service (NIS). So, you will appreciate that our priorities are totally wrong. This is not a police country. This is not such a highly insecure country and, therefore, we should not be spending a lot of resources on that. We should not be spending a lot of resources on the Ministry of Devolution and Planning. Most of these resources should be made available to the counties to improve the conditions out there. Madam Temporary Speaker, from this Report, you have also seen that because land, as a resource, is managed by the national Government, counties cannot plan effectively because they really do not have the land. They cannot plan any activities on the land because the land is managed from the national Government. Therefore, counties cannot initiate any meaningful development programmes. That is clearly coming out from this Report. Madam Temporary Speaker, from these reports, we have also seen that even the people out there – the citizens themselves – feel that county governments should take over the function of county roads. They should take over management, maintenance, rehabilitation and development of the county network of roads. This is important because that is what the Constitution says. The Constitution says that there will be two classes of roads; roads that we call national trunk roads, which will be managed by the national Government and there will also be another class of roads called county roads. Now, today those county roads are still being managed by the national Government and citizens out there have told our committees and the committees have said it in this Report that this function should be handed over and it should be taken over immediately by the county governments. It is only sensible to allow the county governments to understand the road networks in their areas. Let them take over these functions. However, they should also be given resources to do so. That is why we are recommending that the Kenya Rural Roads Authority (KeRRA) and the Kenya Urban Roads Authority (KURA) should be answerable to the county governments. This is what is coming out from wananchi in the Report. It is also coming out that if county governments want to borrow money from external sources, for instance, they are restricted to a maximum of 5 per cent based on the their last audited accounts. This is extremely restrictive and it is not a lot of money. If you will only go out there to borrow 5 per cent of the last audited accounts – which is very restrictive – that will hinder progress of county governments and reduce their capacity to undertake some of the development initiatives in their plans. It has also been highlighted, in this report, that counties should be allowed to benefit from national assets found and located within their counties. The Port of Mombasa, for example, is a massive asset that we benefit from as a country. However, it is also logical that Mombasa County, where the asset is located, gets slightly more than 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."
}