Entry Instance

HTTP 200 OK
Allow: GET, PUT, PATCH, DELETE, HEAD, OPTIONS
Content-Type: application/json
Vary: Accept

{
    "id": 468123,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/468123/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 323,
    "type": "other",
    "speaker_name": "",
    "speaker_title": "",
    "speaker": null,
    "content": "Secondly, it is upon this Senate to do an audit at some point and see whether all these functions, as they exist in the Constitution--- as we pass the County Allocation Revenue Bill, it is necessary to come up with an intervention in terms of another Bill to redress any deficit that may arise. Even the national Government, whenever it has a deficit, it uses additional Appropriation Bills. The Senate should not tie its hand that this allocation, as contained in the Bill, is cast in stone. Similarly, we cannot say that vertical sharing of revenue is cast in stone. We can revisit the Division of Revenue Act if we find that these counties cannot work effectively without additional resources. We do not want the system of devolution to fail. If we fail, each one of us will be responsible because when we were being sworn- in, we said that we would defend the Constitution and the Senate particularly because we have been given the mandate to protect the counties. With this amount of money, I believe that we will, certainly, need to revisit the issue. The other thing that we have not audited well, even though my colleagues have spoken to it, without being repetitive, is on indexes of population size as reflected in the figures. I think there is something that does not add up. I agree, entirely, with the Senator for Kakamega, in his global observation on what has ended up as figures for the respective counties. For instance, my county of Siaya is not just a land mass but there is a water mass with many islands to be taken care of. Some residents of those islands have not seen electricity or a motor vehicle. Some of the residents have not been out of the islands. If we audit these figures, we will find a reflection of what exists on the ground. Permit me, Madam Temporary Speaker, to say in conclusion that it is the Jubilee Government that is in power. It is 100 days since this Government was sworn-in. I will compare what is happening to what happened after the 2002 General Election. In 2003, Kenyans were said to be the most optimistic people in the world. We were in a celebratory mood for nearly a year. However, now, for the first three months, the only thing we are having is problems. We are having problems with teachers and other groups. I can tell you for a fact and you can take this to the bank that a Government that cannot negotiate with its people is not worth its salt. If it is a Government which for three weeks cannot negotiate with the teachers and agree--- I think that in the United States of America (USA), the conclusion will be quite the opposite. I remember when the late Senator Edward Kennedy had an accident with a lady in a car. They were trying to determine whether he was fit to be an American President in those kinds of circumstances. In my view, a Government with so much political goodwill arising out of what have been an electoral victory, although in my own opinion, the elections were worse than in the year 2007--- This was one of the stolen elections and now you can see what the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) is going through."
}