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{
    "id": 601514,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/601514/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 337,
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    "content": "In other words, those resources can only be available and be allocated for addressing the gaps in the event that there is concrete data and information making it possible for the person who holds the financial portfolio to make that decision on the basis of evidence. Mr. Temporary Speaker, Sir, I am not talking much about the national Government because it has had a long time experience with this kind of thing. However, county governments are a recent phenomenon and they have not taken planning, data and baseline surveys very seriously. I do not blame them because quite a number of them have not been in Government before. Quite often, people do not understand that collecting data and information is a scientific enterprise and not something that you do overnight. I know of counties which when they are preparing the County Integrated Development plans write to their various departments, retreat somewhere and ask them for the priorities. Priorities are given and the various heads of department are given the County Integrated Development Plan and they will have very little to do with revenues available for implementing those priorities. They do not come as priorities any more but as a catalogue of proposals not related to any hierarchy whatsoever. Mr. Temporary Speaker, Sir, the second thing is the structure of county governments with regard to implementing what Sen. Hassan is proposing here. Apart from undertaking to identify the gaps and so on, there is a much more basic issue. From whence does this information come? If you look at all county governments today, in both the Constitution and the County Governments Act, it is said that devolution must go up to the grassroots. I cannot quite remember which part of the Constitution it is but when you go to the section on devolution, there is that fundamental statement that the whole object of devolution is that it is meant to go up to the point where people live. This Constitution envisaged the beginning of devolution at the village level. That is why it was proposed that the first level of devolved government should be the Village Council comprising of five persons; one third of which must be of either gender. I would like to be informed whether there is any county today, which has established the Village Councils. Of course, the Constitution has latitude, which says it should be done as resources are available. Maybe this is where the Commission for Revenue Allocation (CRA) comes in; and what Okoa Kenya is proposing, that, indeed, in order to ensure that we implement all the structures of devolution as envisaged in the Constitution, there should be sufficient resources. Resources should follow functions. At the moment, even if you look at the Fourth Schedule of the Constitution where there is division of functions, and if you did a neat analysis of budget reallocation, you will still find that not all functions that were devolved to county governments have enough resources for those functions to be performed. I am glad that, in this Bill, Sen. Hassan has proposed the steps to be taken to ensure that those resources are available, including zeroing in on the Equalisation Fund and conditional grants as aspects or sources of getting these resources to finance specifically, the social and economic rights. However, this will mean, therefore, that we have a robust debate in this House with the CRA in terms of the size of the budget that will go to the Equalisation Fund 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."
}