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{
    "id": 430050,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/430050/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 296,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "Hon. Kinyua",
    "speaker_title": "",
    "speaker": {
        "id": 2303,
        "legal_name": "Peter Weru Kinyua",
        "slug": "peter-weru-kinyua"
    },
    "content": "First, I want to commend the good work done by our team of the Budget and Appropriations Committee, which has worked tirelessly, consulting different departments and Ministries of the Government and having to get a delicate balance between the allocations within the Ministries as well as the counties. As we adopt this report, I would urge the parties that will be involved, particularly in the allocation of revenue to county governments, for instance, the Commission on Revenue Allocation, that the formula that they adopt must not necessarily be the formula that they used last time, which was not based on anything. We want to see equity as opposed to equality. We want to see the counties that carry the biggest burden or that have the biggest number of taxpayers. In this case, I am referring to the counties of Nyeri, Kiambu and Nairobi, which carry the biggest number of taxpayers and, in fact, the counties which drive this economy, we want them to get their equitable share in terms of revenue allocation. We cannot take it that Nyeri, Nairobi or Kiambu, for example, have to stop at a standstill until the other counties catch up with them. We want this to be looked into and the basis for revenue allocation should take into consideration that fact. I also want to see some bit of rationalization. I support the current Government’s initiative of trying to rationalize, harmonize and look at this country’s wage bill. As a country, we cannot move forward and achieve the Jubilee target of the double digit growth when most of our expenditure is going into Recurrent Budget. As much as we have come up with proposals for the allocations, we would also urge the Ministries and other Government agencies and departments to reduce wastage. One of the things that we have to look into is the fact that Kenyans must get value for their money. We cannot have Government contracts being the most expensive, which are not necessarily following the best practices, and which are not necessarily based on what can be achieved even from the private sector. We want Government Ministries to look into the spending of this country and ensure that the contracts that we award give value for money. For example, it does not make sense in this country to say that we can only tarmack our roads at Kshs80 million per kilometer, whereas if you were to do that in the private sector, probably it will cost as less as between Kshs30 million to Kshs40 million. All these need to be looked into. I also commend the Committee for coming up with the solution of ring-fencing some money, particularly for the Level 5 hospitals. I will have the opportunity to look into what is happening in the Karatina District Hospital. In the past, we have been 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."
}