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"content": "Mr. Temporary Speaker, Sir, if these resources were to be taken to the village level, and the villagers were the ones to decide where the money would go, some of these social ills would be done away with. Unfortunately, counties have become social centres of decentralisation. Many counties cannot operate because there is an impasse in terms of funds allocated to the wards. The Members of County Assemblies wish that devolution succeeds in their wards. However, governors have unilaterally connived with the directors of budget and ensured that there is no further devolvement of the funds to the wards. This is an area that the Senate should be involved to ensure that there is devolvement of funds and support the Members of County Assemblies. Mr. Temporary Speaker, Sir, I am not saying that the Members of County Assemblies should manage funds the way Constituencies Development Fund is managed, but that there be funds earmarked to specific wards. This should be implemented by the executive. We have sub-county administrators who are idle. They have no work to do because everything is centralised. If we have to realise social and economic prosperity for our people, devolution should cascade to the village level. At the national level, there are specific areas that if we were to target, certain sectors will change the lives of our people. This is, for instance, the dependence on agriculture. A majority of Kenyans depend on agriculture. However, how much do we allocate to agriculture in our annual budgets? Tea is the foremost foreign exchange earner. Coffee has also been earning, but how much are we investing in agriculture? Under the Maputo Declaration, which we signed and promised to commit 10 per cent of our budget, this percentage is peanuts for a country that depends on agriculture. Even so, I am afraid to say that I do not think we are currently allocating 4 per cent to agriculture whether at the national or at the county level. Mr. Temporary Speaker, Sir, Trans Nzoia County produces maize for this country. If we did not do it, we would spend a lot of foreign exchange importing cereals yet our people are hard working and they are producing maize. Majority of the people, including youth depend on agriculture, but this sector has been reserved. It is painful to see that there are funds allocated for purchase maize. For instance, Kshs2.7 billion only from last year’s Kshs5 billion was set aside to purchase maize. This is a drop in the ocean yet we are talking about dignity of our country. A country that does not feed its people cannot say that, that government has dignity and the people do not have that dignity. Dignity is part of social rights. First, we must begin by feeding our people. Today, if we go to many families, including where we are producing maize in Uasin Gishu or Trans Nzoia, there is a family that slept yesterday without ugali. That is a reality. Mr. Temporary Speaker, Sir, concerning sanitation and health, although the counties have procured ambulances and so on, they only deliver people to places where there is no medicine and doctors. What is the purpose rushing a person, using an ambulance with all the sirens on, to hospitals where there is no medicine? That happens in many counties, including mine. 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."
}