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{
    "id": 437119,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/437119/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 353,
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    "speaker": null,
    "content": "money had come, we would have seen how we would even have paved the county headquarters roads. The money that was supposed to be released last year by the national Government was retained yet it is not theirs. The Equalization Fund was meant for marginalized counties; so, where is it? Is it a delaying tactic so that we continue being marginalized? I want to propose that this money be released as soon as possible, so that it can go to the counties; the county governments – the governors and their teams – can sit down and allocate it. Even some of us now – the Senators and MPs – can sit down and allocate this money. Mr. Temporary Speaker, Sir, you will remember that last year, they said that the national Government would retain Kshs730.4 billion, while we had Kshs190 billion. With the problems we have been having for the last 50 years, where some counties in Kenya have continued to lag behind, I would propose that we keep the amount for the national Government constant for the period when we will have the Transition Authority (TA); retain it at Kshs730 billion for the next three years and have Kshs295 billion now. If you were to share this among the counties, you will have an average of Kshs6.3 billion, that is if you divide this figure by 47. How beautiful would this be to me, with all the problems I know I have to solve using Kshs3.7 billion that is proposed to be given? When I look at this, I say we need to come out and actually tell the national Government that we need to also know how they spend their money. I am told that the percentage of expenditure – I used to be a Permanent Secretary – varies between 20 to 50 per cent every year. What about the balance of the money? Where does it go? I do not know whether you noted that this year, 65 or 66 tranches were released. The first tranche of the money to counties was released in September, 2013, and this is the amount they have not utilized. What are we trying to tell the people of Kenya? We are telling them that we have released money to the counties and nothing has been spent. The same happens after two or three months, but nobody is telling us what each department in the national Government has spent or what is still lying at the Central Bank of Kenya (CBK). So, we should not be pointing fingers at the counties, since four fingers are pointing back at the national Government! I want to propose that every time the Cabinet Secretary for the Treasury releases a tranche of money to the counties, he should also release information about how much has been given to all the Ministries and how much has not been spent. Mr. Temporary Speaker, Sir, I also want to speak about how national funds are spent. For example, even here in Parliament, where we have the Parliamentary Service Commission, there are some Commissioners you will never get in their offices, because they are permanently in the sky. Where do they go?"
}