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    "id": 436780,
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    "content": "not be more than one year old. However, even if they have not been audited, the amount proposed for allocation is still far way above the 15 per cent threshold which is the legal requirement. That is a very important thing for hon. Senators to appreciate. Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir, the second issue relates to the costing and unbundling of functions. Right now, the law requires the Commission for Revenue Allocation (CRA) to make suggestions on how much counties should get. Parliament decides how much each county will get using a formula that is provided for under Articles 225 and 226 of the Constitution. However, the work around funding counties and the formula used is presumed to be based on a scientific understanding of how much it costs to deliver the various functions that are devolved to counties. In fact, the assumption is that this costing should be done for both the national Government and the county government functions. Therefore, the division of revenue is matched accordingly to meet the 15 per cent threshold. I say so because there has been a lot of emphasis on costing of county functions, but I think the whole picture will be better understood if costing of functions is done among the two levels of Government. I say so because it might be true or, rather, we might know how much it costs to deliver county functions. But we have to relate that to the entire available resource envelope. For example, let us assume that to deliver all functions by both levels of government, you require Kshs1 trillion, yet the revenue available is Kshs700 billion. So, it means, therefore, that you have to say: “Yes, this is the cost, but this money is not there because the available revenue is Kshs700 billion.” That, then, informs how you prorate the funding between the two levels of government. Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir, it is sad that up to now, that work has not been done. Whose duty is it? I believe this is a duty that should be done by the national Treasury as the expert organ of the national Government. They should do this, in consultation with the finance organs of county governments and other agencies that are involved in devolution, including the CRA, the Transition Authority (TA) and everybody else. I think our role as a House, could only be limited to our Committees considering the proposals that have come from the expert institutions. Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir, as long as the functions of both levels of government have not been unbundled and costed, we will continue using very rough methods of funding counties. That is not good because it can even undermine devolution in the long run. So, I am really hoping that this is the last time we are singing this song about unbundling and costing of functions. I hope that by the time I introduce the Division of Revenue Bill of 2015, then we would have crossed that bridge. Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir, this Bill has adhered to the provisions of Article 203(1) of the Constitution---"
}