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{
    "id": 399126,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/399126/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 240,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "Sen. Mositet",
    "speaker_title": "",
    "speaker": {
        "id": 608,
        "legal_name": "Peter Korinko Mositet",
        "slug": "peter-korinko-mositet"
    },
    "content": "Thank you, Mr. Temporary Speaker, Sir, for allowing me to second this amendment. From the outset, just as my Chairperson has said, this is a brief amendment. He has explained the reason behind the amendment which is worth supporting. My Chairman has explained the reasons and the technical terms. The most important thing is to know the legalities with regard to collection of revenue, how to use the monies and to come up with county Finance Bills, which have not, so far, been passed by any county. This gives us the chance to extend the mandate of the Transition Authority. For that matter, it is in order for Members to support so that we give them a period of nine months so that counties can function well. It is good to note that all our counties are still carrying out recruitment. We do not really have any staff in place. As much as some counties may claim that their treasuries have opened accounts and are working, the truth is that they may not have staff members. It is also good to note on this Floor that counties should function better than the local authorities were functioning and operating. So, when it comes to revenue collection, we are sad to report that some counties we visited told us that in the previous month, they collected about Kshs200 million but in the current month, they have collected Kshs100 million. That was really disturbing to us and we wondered how the governors and executives will run their county governments. It is good to note that a lot of money is now being taken to the counties. As we talk, I do not think that there is any county that has used any of the monies that is available to them. We should make the governors know that they should start using that money. Otherwise, within some months, they might find themselves overwhelmed by the monies in their accounts. Maybe, one year down the line, they may not have time to spend it. I just want to support and second this amendment and note that if you look at what the Chairperson had said, there are a number of ways that the county governments are trying to use to collect more revenue. The counties are not even consulting the existing laws. They are not consulting the laws that we have between us and other communities like the East African Community (EAC) Laws. They should know that they are not supported by the law and they may be threatening investors and creating bad precedence which does not create a good environment for investors to feel that they are comfortable to work in those counties. As they do that, I also find some cases where some raw materials may be leaving some counties. For example, Mandera County could be very rich in gypsum whereas it could be leaving Mandera all the way to Athi River and what the Mandera County gains is very little. It may be in order for them to also check in terms of the raw materials which leave particular counties and go to other counties, what those counties gain."
}