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"id": 484811,
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"speaker_name": "Hon. Musyimi",
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"content": "it needs to be repeated here that we followed the law and we gave not 15 per cent of the money that the law requires we give. We actually gave 43 per cent of that amount. Therefore, all this clamour that we are not giving enough money to county governments is all together misplaced. Hon. Deputy Speaker, as the custodians of law, we must respect, defend, protect and uphold the supremacy of our Constitution. The Constitution requires that the equitable division of revenue takes into account the functions assigned to each level of government. Article 218(2) of the Constitution requires division of revenue between the two levels of Government and across county governments to take into account the criteria set out in the same Constitution. These criteria include, national interest, public debt and needs of the disadvantaged groups and areas, among other criteria. As I close on this matter, it is important to say that the national interests are functions that are expressed under the purview of the national Government as provided for under the Sixth Schedule of the Constitution. These national interests include, but are not limited to:- Management of public debt, foreign affairs, international cooperation, national security, national intelligence service, parliamentary affairs, the judiciary, the presidency, public prosecution, police service, elections, constitutional commissions and other independent offices. Hon. Deputy Speaker, for the 2014/2015 Budget, the aforementioned functions have been allocated approximately 80 per cent of the ordinary revenue expected during the 2014/2015 Financial Year. Under these circumstances, the Consolidated Fund Services takes a first charge and has been allocated a total of Kshs.415.6 billion. This would service public debt as well as the other mandatory payments like pensions and salaries related to constitutional office holders. Secondly, as we aspire to attain the middle income level as a country in year 2030, education is pivotal to ensuring that we attain our aspirations and thus investing in human resource development and in the future. The productivity of the nation is determined by the level of education and thus to ensure that this is achieved, this sector has been allocated just over 15 per cent of our budget. Whereas the Constitution contemplated a minimum of 15 per cent of the most recently audited and nationally accounts approved by Parliament this year, the county governments have actually received close to Kshs240 billion, of which Kshs226.6 billion is equitable and sharable revenue. This amount by far exceeds the threshold provided for by the Constitution. It is actually 20.6 per cent of the ordinary revenue of the Kshs1.86 trillion expected to be raised during the current financial year. Upon sharing this revenue, the national Government will have a financing shortfall of about Kshs.78 billion. This will have to be met from other sources including internally generated resources, Appropriation-in-Aid, grants and loans as well as borrowing. Hon. Deputy Speaker, it should be noted that after taking into account the criteria in our Constitution, there is limited revenue left to fund other national Government needs. It is, therefore, important as we debate the many issues that we debate in our country and as we listen to each other across the political divide to the different levels of Government, The electronic version of the Official Hansard Report is for information purposesonly. A certified version of this Report can be obtained from the Hansard Editor."
}