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{
    "id": 698641,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/698641/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 264,
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    "content": "can transform the lives of people? Is it because they are also hungry and salivating for a chance to have their hand in the cookie jar? Mr. Temporary Speaker, Sir, it is the Senate to stand up to defend devolution. We must see to it that it lives up to its dream and expectation. Are we getting value for our taxes? Is the colossal amount of money we allocate to counties helping our people? I agree with my colleagues that one of the things we may need to look at is the audit process. How long does it take us to know what is happening in a county in a given financial year? It is so unfortunate that we are in 2016, but we are still talking about audit reports of 2013/2014 Financial Year. What will happen by the time we read the reports of 2016/2017 Financial Year? We know that given the realities of the political space in our country, this is likely to be the year where people are likely to disappear even with entire budgets of departments if we do not have time to interrogate and question the decisions that are being made. Are the citizens of this country getting value for their money? If we are still doing over 50 per cent of taxes going to recurrent expenditure which, to me, is just for paying salaries, do we really need the number of employees that are in county governments? There would have been better ways of doing it. For example, what legislation can we put in place and live with their realities? One of the challenges that have been raised in this House is the number of employees that were inherited by county governments from the defunct local authorities. What have we done about it? Why are we allowing county governments to pay salaries for services that have not been rendered? I have noted within my county that some drivers are paid more than other professionals like accountants and procurement officers because of the number of years that they have served. Is this good value for money? The Constituencies Development Fund (CDF) set for us a good example. About 4 per cent can be spent to pay salaries and then dedicate about 96 per cent to real and actual development. I may not have been part of the drafters of our Constitution, but I believe that was the dream they had for our country. When they provided for devolution, they did not envisage a situation where 70 per cent of the money will be used to just pay salaries and rent. It is so unfortunate that we have allowed it to go this far. I expect us, as Senators, to rise to the occasion and question what we can do about this. There are emerging challenges that we have not properly addressed. Some of them are unique challenges that we have been observing. Of late, we have observed a unique case in Murang’a County where the governor would launch a particular project that would turn out to be a public relations exercise. The governors erect billboards along the road and put advertisements in newspapers and television showing what they have done We need to question whether this is prudent use of resources. How can we divorce the success of an office and the funds that have been devolved? It is unfortunate for Senators - it is not that we are salivating at that opportunity – that we pass the County Allocation of Revenue Bill in this House and funds go to the counties, but we never get the chance to be invited even to one occasion and be thanked for the good work we do here in Nairobi. 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"
}