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{
    "id": 422949,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/422949/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 105,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "Hon. Lati",
    "speaker_title": "",
    "speaker": {
        "id": 2762,
        "legal_name": "Jonathan Lelelit Lati",
        "slug": "jonathan-lelelit-lati"
    },
    "content": "Hon. Deputy Speaker, it is only the Commission on Revenue Allocation (CRA) that has assumed that a marginalized area can only be a county and that is why we have brought up this Bill. We feel constituencies are also areas referenced in the Constitution. I want to say that CRA erred in that respect by always thinking of counties as referenced area of the Equalisation Fund. The Constitution is very clear; it only refers to marginalized areas. I want to say that even within counties that are well developed, there are marginalized areas that exist within those counties. I have had time to ask the CRA why they had referenced the counties as marginalized areas. They did not dispute what is stipulated in the Constitution. All they had to say is that it is too much work to go down to the constituencies. But I want to tell CRA today that in the opinion of this House, constituencies are the best areas to devolve this money to. I also want to tell them that their job was to do the work. They thought that to minimize their workload, they should just put the Equalisation Fund to the county level. That is wrong. I also want to tell our governors, the media and everybody out there that we are not trying to take money away money from the county governments. For those of us who sit in the Budget and Appropriations Committee, they know very well that in the Division of Revenue Bill, there are different funds for different areas. We have the county fund and the national fund. It is clearly stated in the Constitution of Kenya that Equalisation Fund falls within the National Government. Hon. Deputy Speaker, Article 204 (2) is very clear. It states that:- “The national government shall use the Equalisation Fund only to provide basic services including water, roads, health facilities and electricity to marginalized areas to the extent necessary to bring the quality of those services in those areas to the level generally enjoyed by the rest of the nation, so far as possible.” For that reason, the Equalisation Fund is a national fund and we are not trying to take away anything from our good governors. We are not and we have not interfered with any county fund. We are only asking the national Government to give us the Equalisation Fund so that it can be operationalised at the constituency level because of the good work that the Constituencies Development Fund (CDF) has done. I want our friends in the media to get this one as well. We are not taking away any money from the county governments; we asking the national Government to give us this money. That National Government Equalisation Fund should be taken to the constituency level. The Constitution is very clear that this is a national fund. It actually goes further in other sub-articles to refer that the National Government “may” – and that is the only time the Constitution mentions a county within the Equalisation Fund framework--- The county government “may” use, I want to stress the word “may” donate the Equalisation Fund to a county as a grant. But we are asking the national Government in this Bill to give this money directly to constituencies. We have a reason to do so. We have seen what CDF has done across our country. Where I come from, we have seen it and it does not matter your relationship with your former Member of Parliament; whether you are a good friend or whether you have had a good fight during elections and you are not good friends anymore. Hon. Deputy Speaker, the truth today in our country is that, if you go to the remotest part of our country, you will find a dispensary--- The electronic version of the Official Hansard Report is for information purposesonly. A certified version of this Report can be obtained from the Hansard Editor."
}