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{
    "id": 474037,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/474037/?format=api",
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    "content": "really, what are you going to see in Singapore? Jesus at one time asked his disciples: “What did you go out to see?” I may ask the Members of the County Assemblies: What did you go to see in Singapore? They might not tell you. But they want to go furthest, because the further you go, the more allowances you have. They almost went to Brazil for football on our own account, if they had not run out of funds at the time that the World Cup Final was being played. Madam Temporary Speaker, I know that there is an argument on both sides – those who support large Government and those who support a lean Government. Sen. Murkomen has been good at supporting a lean Government, like the Republicans do in America. The Democrats always support their large Government. At the same time, we must have a government and an assembly which must function and which must have resources. At the same time, you cannot kill them by reducing the amount of money they use so that they function on a day to day basis to an extent that they cannot function at all. In fact, that is what we did with the earlier regional governments and later on with the earlier county assemblies; we denied them revenue. First, they were collecting some income tax which we removed and then we were sharing PAYE which we removed, then they remained with market dues and parking fees which is not even there because other than Nairobi, there is nowhere else with enough vehicles to park so that you get any revenue out of it. If we are not careful, we might stifle them. So the Government must be very careful. It must be informed by data and if the advice by the Controller of Budget is that 40 would be reasonable for the moment to start with, then we stick there. I will support the amendment if it is brought with that learning put into it. Madam Temporary Speaker, I know that regarding CDF, we agreed in Parliament that we would only use 3 per cent for management and we did well because you needed only a few staff like a coordinator or manager and one or two clerks because it is just a matter of sharing out the money to schools, hospitals, water or to the road. So it was not a huge bureaucracy. You cannot translate this to the Government and I think the 40 per cent is good. I think we should not complain too much. This was the beginning and they were excited. They have now seen the public react very swiftly and angrily. This House has passed a Bill that will make Senators the chairpersons of the development boards. I am sure each Senator will be looking at the budget and asking questions like why we are putting so much in travel, unnecessary seminars and launching of beautiful things. I saw a launch of a water project that was costing about Kshs2 million. When I saw the colour of the tenting, the carpets, the dancers, the comedians, school choirs and so on, I knew everybody had been paid. It was like royalty and I thought I should have been a governor because it is good to feel like royalty but it is bad when you are feeling like that on poor people’s money. So, we must put certain ceilings and controls. The governors themselves are also between a rock and a hard place. They are telling us quietly that if we do not control these things, they have been put in a tight place because if they do not allow certain things, they will be impeached. Governors fear 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."
}