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"id": 437136,
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"speaker_name": "Sen. Hassan",
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"id": 431,
"legal_name": "Hassan Omar Hassan Sarai",
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"content": "Thank you, Mr. Temporary Speaker, Sir. I rise to oppose this Bill on the following grounds. I, as the representative of Mombasa County, cannot be put in a situation where constantly we are in a fait accompli kind of position, not only with respect to this figure of Kshs226 billion, but also in terms of the long-term disenfranchisement of Mombasa in the next five years in relation to the formula for allocation of revenue. Mr. Temporary Speaker, Sir, I have consulted the people who matter in the county, the government of Mombasa County and the Members of the County Assembly (MCAs), whom I addressed last Monday on this very Bill; I think that we are unanimous that Mombasa cannot accept a position where there is a formula that dispossesses and disenfranchises Mombasa County for the next five years without recourse. This is the second year running where we are second from the top in the contribution of revenue and seventh from the bottom in the allocation of that revenue. It cannot be acceptable. As we said, devolution was not about flags. In fact, I am aware that in the County of Mombasa, where Sen. Orengo and Sen. Muthama were, we had already advised our Governor not to fly the national flag. He actually flies the county flag. So, you can take it back, but give us money. That is all we need. Mr. Temporary Speaker, Sir, devolution was never about grandeur states, but about resources. We have been fighting about dispossession in this country and will continue doing so, because people who wield power have wielded it for such a long time. If you look at our beach plots and businesses, they reflect who was in power during successive governments. This is not tenable. Therefore, in principle, if Mombasa does not protest these Bills--- Last year we were put in a position where we did not want to antagonize the National Assembly and had to go to court. This year we have been put in a position where we do not want to weaken the Senate, but the truth of the matter is that our counties are being weakened and we are not there to stand with them when challenges are facing us. We know that you will bring the money less what we need. We will spend it definitely, but tell you here in the Senate that, that is not the arrangement that we can accept. Mr. Temporary Speaker, Sir, if we go with the Kshs226 billion arrangement, we will get an estimate of Kshs4.4 billion, when the wage bill itself, without the allowances to the MCAs stands at Kshs4.7 billion. No county in this country gets an allocation lower than its wage bill. Therefore, Mombasa cannot purport to say that in the interests of this country, we will move forward. We also have to move in the interests of respective counties; we are all also given the mandate to protect. Mr. Temporary Speaker, Sir, to borrow from Sen. Orengo, who has been my mentor and elder brother for many years, if it was a condition on us, under Article 229(4) of the Constitution to have audited accounts then it would raise serious issues of constitutionality as to whether this Bill meets the constitutional threshold. This is because 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."
}