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{
    "id": 704356,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/704356/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 254,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "Sen. (Eng.) Muriuki",
    "speaker_title": "",
    "speaker": {
        "id": 2559,
        "legal_name": "Stephen Muriuki Ngare",
        "slug": "stephen-muriuki-ngare"
    },
    "content": "Thank you, Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir, for giving me the chance to contribute on this Bill. An amendment to the Constitution is a provision which is to be exercised by Parliament sparingly and when it is absolutely necessary. This can only be done if we feel those who drafted the Constitution may have fundamentally erred or left a loophole that we have to revisit. Having said that, let us appreciate that there are many funds. For example, before the Constitution of Kenya 2010 was promulgated, we had the Women Enterprise Fund, Roads Fund, Constituencies Development Fund (CDF) and many others. Each one of them was brought about to fill in some gap that was there. Legislators felt that in order to fill that gap there was need to set aside some funds. The Committee of Experts saw that it was a good idea to set up an Equalisation Fund. They also spelt out how those funds would be spent. The responsibility was given to the national Government. As much as the Senate has the mandate to determine who gets what, the Committee on Revenue Allocation (CRA) had the mandate or the obligation to propose which areas or counties are marginalized. There has also been a debate in the country as to whether we are talking of a marginalized county or a marginalized area. Sometimes it may be a very well-endowed county, but you might find an area in the same county which is seriously marginalized. When you look at it from the national level, it is easier for people in that marginalized area to state their case. However, if you take this money and share it like the CDF money in the constituency, in my humble opinion, we will not do what was envisaged to be achieved through this Fund. To that extent, I do not find merit in changing the Constitution. Instead, we need to leave that responsibility to the organs mandated to do so by the Constitution. Constituencies should be left to fund their own projects which are of importance to specific areas and, therefore, we oppose this amendment to the Constitution. I do not think going the way the National Assembly has proposed and passed, we will achieve the objectives of what was intended in creation of the Equalisation Fund. As I mentioned, we are looking at the marginalized counties, constituencies, areas, people or disadvantaged groups who are not economically empowered. These people are living in this Republic. It is not fair to share this money according to the constituencies. For that reason, I oppose this Bill."
}