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{
    "id": 592430,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/592430/?format=api",
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    "content": "nation.” Shock unto us because even the king of Meru who is a very senior Member of the ruling coalition, I doubt whether he spends that time with the President, analysing the political weather forecast of the nation. Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir, there was exuberance and thinking that the Senate was going to be a very serious institution. We should have read the job description, but all is not lost. I believe that as a Senate, now that we know where the shoe pinches, we can make the right and relevant proposals to improve the status of the Senate. The question I have asked myself when looking at this proposal from the Sen. Murkomen’s committee is; do these proposals strengthen devolution or are they meant to lift our egos? Are these the proposals that we will be happy with when we become governors? I know and it is on record that a few of the Members will be on the other side of execution come 2017. I know many of us will become governors in the next general election. Is this the Senate that we will live with when are governors, when some Members recede to the National Assembly or God forbid, when some people decide to go to the county assemblies? Does this strengthen devolution? Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir, there are good proposals that have come up here. In my logical thinking, I want to partition them as practical proposals and some that are fairly abstract that are meant as more of housekeeping for making sure that we, as Senators, our job is much easier. Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir, let me address the practical proposals. One, this Committee has proposed that we raise the revenue allocated to counties to 40 per cent. I love that proposal. It resonates with what we have been saying out there, that we need to send more money to the counties. In fact, if there was one issue that will be passed at the referendum without any quarrel among Kenyans, it is this proposal to raise revenue to 40 per cent. If you look at other parallel initiatives, the Coalition for Reforms and Democracy (CORD) and the Council of Governors is talking about more or less the same thing. This is one proposal that will unify us, as a nation. Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir, when we go to the counties, I usually ask what; is it that is happening to the 85 per cent of the revenue that remains in Nairobi? There are those who think that majoring in minors just by looking at 15 per cent and forgetting about 85 per cent which every other day you wake up and hear Kshs 800 million disappeared from a state organization---. I went to a funeral and I was asked: “Who is this lady with Kshs800 million? What kind of lady is this?” I said I did not know whether it is a lady who disappeared with it, but the record is there that Kshs800 million disappeared from the 85 per cent that remained in Nairobi. At the grassroots level, our women are still suffering because of lack of water and yet we have the Ministry of Water and Irrigation. The water sector is supposed to be devolved, yet billions of shillings are retained at the National Government when such money should be used in the counties for de-silting dams and in providing water to our women. We need roads to penetrate areas. I went to the foot of Gwasi Hills; an extremely beautiful place in Nyanza, a place where the hills touch the skies. When you get to the top of the hills, you feel very elated. We just need to open up roads so that we create opportunities there yet 85 per cent of the money still remains with the National Government. Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir, I support and I love this proposal that we increase the revenue to counties by 40 per cent. The question is: when we push more money to the counties, do we have the capacity to oversight and to look after it? If we are struggling to oversight the 15 per 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."
}