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{
    "id": 468538,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/468538/?format=api",
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    "content": "disposed off by the Senate. It has, therefore, become necessary that I make a Communication on the disposal of the Division of Revenue Bill, 2013 by the Senate for purposes of the record. Hon. Senators, let me at the outset state that in keeping with the provisions of Standing Order No.88 (5), which is replicated in the National Assembly Standing Orders as Standing Order No.87 (5), this Communication is not intended to criticize or to call to question the proceedings of the National Assembly or indeed, the Communication made by my colleague, the Speaker of the National Assembly. That is for a good reason expressly prohibited in the Standing Orders. This Communication is, therefore, intended only to clarify the role of the Senate with regard to the Division of Revenue Bill, 2013 so as to ensure the smooth transaction of the business of the Senate in accordance with its constitutional mandate and, particularly because we are going to the Committee of the Whole for the same Bill. The Communication made by the Speaker of the National Assembly on the Division of Revenue Bill, 2013 has been understood to mean that the Division of Revenue Bill, 2013 which is currently before the Senate, having been forwarded to the Senate by the Clerk of the National Assembly by a letter dated 13th May, 2013, to which was annexed a message by the Speaker of the National Assembly seeking the concurrence of the Senate on the Bill as proposed by the National Assembly; that it is not properly before the Senate and that the Bill should have been processed and disposed off only by the National Assembly to the exclusion of the Senate. Hon, Senators, by way of elucidation, simply put, a Division of Revenue Bill is a Bill that seeks to allocate monies or rather to divide the monies before the national and county levels of Government. The enactment of a Division of Revenue Bill then sets the stage for publication by the Senate of the County Allocation of Revenue Bill which, when passed, allocates the monies as between the counties. That is what the Chairman of the Commission on Revenue Allocation (CRA) usually calls the vertical and horizontal allocations. You need to deal with the vertical before the horizontal. With this background in mind, the essence of the position advanced on this matter, is that while the Senate can allocate monies as between the counties, it has no say or no role whatsoever in the determination of the amount of money that will be available for such allocation. Stretched to its limits, this interpretation would mean that the Senate must merely wait for the National Assembly to determine in a particular year the amount due to the counties, which amount could very well be set at nil despite the provisions of Article 203 (2) of the Constitution. The Senate would then, once the Bill allocating nil to the counties has been published, embark on the allocation of this zero figure as between the counties. Hon. Senators, this analogy, though rather extremist is intended to illustrate the important role and place of the Senate in the disposal of a Division of Revenue Bill. A Division of Revenue Bill is at the heart of the devolved government system and it is the first and probably the most important test of fidelity by Parliament and all other institutions of Government to the Constitution as a whole and devolution in particular. Whatever else devolution may be about, it is principally about sharing of financial resources. Indeed, it is arguments surrounding the question of the nature and design of the 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."
}