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{
    "id": 680052,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/680052/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 81,
    "type": "other",
    "speaker_name": "",
    "speaker_title": "",
    "speaker": null,
    "content": "County. This is because I have the responsibility and direct mandate of ensuring that my county receives the resources. I want to persuade my colleagues, who have been persuaded by the SMS sent around, that they are directly elected by their counties and that their mandate of ensuring that their specific counties have resources depends on the passage of this Schedule. I know the proceedings of this House are being aired live. If the Senate Minority and Majority Leaders have sent contrary SMSs, I want to call on Kenyans to SMS their Senators and ask them to come to this House so that we are able to pass this important Motion, so that our counties are able to get the resources that are required. As I speak to this particular Motion, it is important to note that the coming financial year is an electioneering period. For the last three years, we have had issues with the manner in which counties are using resources. When you go to the counties, you will hear a governor being asked every other time why he has not released bursary money yet the county budgeted for it. They always claim that resources have not been disbursed from Nairobi. If you ask them why they have not paid contractors who have done their work, they keep on complaining that money has not been transferred to the counties. I want to call upon the county governments and let them know that they now have the Schedule way ahead of time. They know the amount of resources they will be getting on a monthly basis. A proper county government must sit down and plan their activities appreciating the fact that the disbursement will be made on a monthly basis. They should be able to plan so as not to have situations where they have allocated money to some activities like building maternity wings in various health centers only to realise that it has not been done and people are complaining that the money was not released. I want to call upon the county governments that as the Senate ensures that these resources are provided to the counties, it is important for those county governments to ensure that these resources are used in the right manner. One of the major challenges we have faced in our counties for the last four years is lack of priorities. I am giving this specific example because of my own county. A sum of Kshs. 5.2billion is being sent to the county. I expect that, in this financial year, the county government will prioritize and ensure that the projects that are being implemented are those that have a direct and positive impact on the lives of the citizens. I want to thank the National Treasury and ask them to be faithful in disbursement of these resources as captured within the Schedule. It will not make sense for us to sit for a Special Sitting to discuss and approve the Schedule only to realize tomorrow that the National Treasury has not followed the disbursement as captured within the Schedule. We want to call upon the Cabinet Secretary to ensure that once we approve this Schedule, these transfers must be made to the counties in accordance with this Schedule because that helps the counties in planning. This being the year towards elections, there will be temptation by county governments to divert the development resources into projects of a political nature. I call upon county governments, led by the governors, that they must ensure that in the running of government, it does not matter whether it is an electioneering period or not, the citizens of this country should get the services as expected. Therefore, we do not expect any change in the manner in which projects are being implemented. 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"
}