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{
    "id": 484813,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/484813/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 320,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "Hon. Waweru",
    "speaker_title": "",
    "speaker": {
        "id": 1378,
        "legal_name": "Dennis Kariuki Waweru",
        "slug": "dennis-kariuki-waweru"
    },
    "content": "Thank you, hon. Deputy Speaker. I would want to start by congratulating my friend, hon. Moses Kuria and hon. Stephen Kariuki. Coincidentally, they both come from Gatundu. I would want to take this opportunity to congratulate you for being elected to this House. I support what the Chairman of the Departmental Committee on Budget and Appropriations has said. I would want to say that the County Allocation of Revenue Bill that we have just tabled outlines how counties are going to vertically share revenue; the Kshs226.6 billion. But I would want to say one or two things. One, I would want to tell our governors not to waste a lot of time moving from one radio station to another. They should be thinking of how they can enhance their revenue collection to the maximum potential because I am sure most of them have ways of raising revenue. There are a lot of loopholes in the county governments and there is a lot of wastage. We have seen them moving from one county to another in fleets of cars. These are the things we are telling them to reduce wastage on. They should deal with corruption which is rampant in counties. They should see how they can restructure to reduce the cost of operation. Hon. Deputy Speaker, if you look at 2013/2014 revenues, we collected approximately Kshs800 billion. If you try and apply this amount of money--- Comparatively this financial year they are complaining that they only got Kshs226.6 billion. We are spending Kshs308 billion on Ministry of Education, Science and Technology. We want to make sure that our children go to school, that is why we are funding the free primary education. We also voted Kshs255 billion on energy and infrastructure. If you did a quick computation on the vote of education, energy, infrastructure, defence and internal security, it will be in excess of Kshs800 billion. Therefore, when they move around from one place to another, with or without referendum, the fact is there is no money. The fact is that within the three accounts, we are spending in excess of Kshs800 billion. Even if you want to devolve Kshs400 billion, we have to think of ways of raising this money. Probably, I would imagine they are telling our Kenyans that they want us to tax people more. Therefore, I would urge governors to try and raise revenue internally. For example, the Nairobi County has a potential of raising over Kshs2 billion a year, but you will find corruption and leakages and that is something to be concerned about. Therefore, as I support this Bill, I would want to urge my colleagues, especially one Isaac Rutto, to please give the right figures and the true position. Let him separate politics from facts. This is because however much noise you make, the fact is that we are still collecting Kshs1 trillion this financial year. That will not change unless you become more efficient in tax collection. We need to relook at the formula that we are using in the application of the county resources. We can engage on this issue as Parliament. I notice that Nairobi County which generates over 60 per cent of our GDP is still getting under 4 per cent of the revenue. My 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."
}