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{
    "id": 437097,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/437097/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 331,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "Sen. Wangari",
    "speaker_title": "",
    "speaker": {
        "id": 13123,
        "legal_name": "Martha Wangari",
        "slug": "martha-wangari"
    },
    "content": "Mr. Temporary Speaker, Sir, I am happy that I have finally caught your eye. It was almost getting to look like there are no women in this House. I want to correct the notion of some of the Senators who think that some represent more counties than others. The women that I represent come from counties and the people with disabilities that Sen. Godliver Omondi represents come from counties. Nevertheless I want to support this Bill. The reason why I feel that the process went well is that one year ago we had a problem; we know what happened with the Division of Revenue Bill. We know that it did not go right but I am hoping that this time, it will not be repeated. Mr. Temporary Speaker, Sir, I also want to defend the issue of negotiated figure. The reason why I want to support despite it being opposed by some Senators is that when the Constitution talks of not less than 15 per cent, it does not fix the figures. It is not a formula that you can apply and get a definite figure. It only sets the minimum. It means that since we have two Houses, the CRA and the Council of Governors being in the process of coming up with this figure, is something that is commendable. The Kshs226 billion we are talking about, I do not think any of us can vote and say that it is enough because we all want more money to go to the counties; we want services closer to the people and we want the historical injustices that have happened over the years corrected. This can only be corrected if more money goes to the counties. I am in agreement with most of the Senators that it looks like these figures are not adding up. Even if the Kshs226 billion is 22 per cent, we are still within the Constitution and we have made the threshold. Mr. Temporary Speaker, Sir, the importance of devolution to this country can be seen. For the last one year, there are counties which got more money than they had seen in the last 50 years. That is why I keep saying that no one can fight devolution. We should be able to sit five years later and do an audit to see how we have transformed the lives of Kenyans. A report was released a few weeks ago that Kenya is still ranked amongst the most dangerous countries to give birth in. This should worry us. The zeal with which we defend this money must also go hand in hand with accountability. That is not to say that it is only applicable to the county governments. You realize that we lose almost Kshs500 billion in the national Government. That is double the amount that we are giving to the counties. That translates to almost Kshs50 billion a month; it should worry us. I think as a Senate, we must be very clear. I know that this was brought up when we were dealing The electronic version of the Senate Hansard Report is for information purposes only. A certified version of this Report can be obtained from the Hansard Editor, Senate."
}