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{
    "id": 468107,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/468107/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 307,
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    "speaker": null,
    "content": "between, we had the Financial Year 2011/2012 which came and went and also 2012/2013 which came and went. We know that the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) has grown considerably. Further, revenue base and collections have increased substantially. By basing these allocations on the Financial Year 2010/2011 although we know that these are the latest set of audited accounts, we are denying counties substantial funds to which they are entitled. I propose that in future, we should find a way of ensuring that this loss is minimized by ensuring that the national Government accounts are audited as soon as possible at the end of a financial year. You will also recall that in this Senate, we considered the Division of Revenue Bill very comprehensively. We satisfied ourselves that the amount of Kshs210 billion that had been proposed was not enough to enable county governments to deliver all the functions assigned to them. In the circumstances, this Senate recommended an amount of Kshs258 billion. This was after consultations with all the relevant institutions, the Treasury itself, the Transition Authority and the CRA. Unfortunately, we were rudely ignored and in fact, overlooked. As a consequence, every county will now lose an average of Kshs1 billion. In Kisii County, we will be losing Kshs1.4 billion. This is the money that we were hoping to use to carry out some urgently needed development works, including repair and maintenance of roads, provision of clean water and construction of health facilities for use by the citizens of Kisii County. Unfortunately, this is not to be. Madam Temporary Speaker, we also know that as a consequence of this, many of the counties, particularly the large counties, will not be able to discharge all their functions and so, certain services will not be delivered. Those counties will run into deficits and others will simply fail to deliver certain services, thereby, leaving wananchi worse than they have been. That is a very regrettable and unfortunate situation. Madam Temporary Speaker, I would like to make a little comment about the issue of conditional grants. My understanding of conditional allocations is that this is money being given to counties by the national Government and the counties are being directed to use it on specific assignments and functions. But look at the schedules which have been given to us. In particular, I want us to look at Column D and see how the conditional grants have been allocated to the various counties. In particular, I have observed that Nairobi County will receive Kshs7.4 billion under the conditional allocations, while Tharaka Nithi County, which is represented by the Senate Majority Leader, will only receive Kshs139 million. The issue which then arises is that which one between Nairobi County and Tharaka Nithi County requires this money? I think that the obvious answer would be Tharaka Nithi County, because that is where the poverty levels are much higher compared with other counties. Madam Temporary Speaker, if you look at Nyeri County, it will receive Kshs3.6 billion while Trans Nzoia will receive Kshs193 million. Whatever this is meant to be and whatever formula has been applied, it is grossly unfair. I know that strong arguments were made to justify conditional allocations. But I am personally opposed to the principle of conditional allocations. If the national Government wants to give counties any money, it should be transferred to the counties and the county governments, which are 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."
}