{"id":531605,"url":"http://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/531605/?format=json","text_counter":107,"type":"speech","speaker_name":"Hon. Katoo","speaker_title":"","speaker":{"id":199,"legal_name":"Judah Katoo Ole-Metito","slug":"judah-ole-metito"},"content":") either directly or indirectly through conditional grants to counties in which marginalised communities exist”. It talks about counties in which marginalised communities exist. My issue is with the Commission on Revenue Allocation (CRA). Their survey on which counties should benefit was not fair. If you look at the arid and semi-arid lands (ASAL), some of the counties are being left out. For instance, my Kajiado County was not included in the criteria used by the CRA. Many other counties have been left out, which is quite unfair. For instance, we always see counties like Baringo County being on relief food year in, year out and then the CRA says that they do not qualify to benefit from the Equalisation Fund. Even if the Constitution provides, as I have quoted, that the Equalisation Fund will be used in counties where marginalised communities exist, it does not mean that you have to look at the overall setup of the county and then you generalize everything and exclude the entire county. If we narrow down to where the marginalised communities live, even Nairobi County, with 17 constituencies, I am sure not less than seven constituencies will qualify to benefit from the Equalisation Fund. If people living in Kibera, Mukuru kwa Njenga, Eastlands and Mathare in Nairobi County do not qualify to get the Equalisation Fund, then you are left to wonder what equalisation is for. Which areas are going to benefit? If you take Kajiado County, other than the expansion of Nairobi that has reached Rongai, Kiserian and Ngong, 90 per cent of the area that is covered by the county is as bare as counties that are in areas which are benefitting. My concern is for the CRA to review the criteria they used, so that they do not leave out certain areas. For instance, Baringo County with Tiaty Constituency, and then you say that they should not benefit from the Equalisation Fund, is quite unfair. It is unconstitutional to take a county as a basis for qualification to get that Equalisation Fund. As much as I support the position of the national Government that this Fund should be left as a national Government Fund and the national Executive should come up 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."}