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{
    "id": 704359,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/704359/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 257,
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    "content": "Secondly, this question of the Equalisation fund has given the Committee of Finance and Budget of the Senate absolute grief. I want to state the reasons. First, is because the national Government through national Treasury has come up with regulations. In those regulations, we have objected vehemently to the manner in which they have been drafted. The national Treasury has refused to accede or listen to our proposals. There are actually two proposals that we have objected. One of them is that 10 per cent of the Equalisation Fund has been put as an administration cost for a council that is formed under those rules. At Kshs18 billion currently, that translates to Kshs1.8 billion that is now set aside for administration of the fund. This is where PSs will be sitting in Nairobi and allocating themselves money for purposes of buying stationery, photocopiers, et cetera . First of all, a travesty that where you have recognised you have marginalization and people are suffering and you have people set up a fund, so that they can have hospitals and basic services. Principal Secretaries sitting in Nairobi will consume Kshs1.8 billion and do nothing other than entertain themselves and buy tea. Thirdly, the Council of Governors (CoGs) has gone to court to oppose those regulations and an injunction was issued to stop the disbursement of those funds. I am aware and maybe the Senate Majority Leader should have been here to confirm that, in fact, the Kshs18 billion set aside for Equalisation has already been released to Members of Parliament through projects that they gave to national Government before they passed the Appropriation Bill. So, we are actually doing an academic exercise. When they realised that we were going to oppose this Bill, they forced the national Government to give them this money by listing a number of projects. It is a pity that money has been released. So, this is academic. However, we need to tell them the truth. They have violated the law. Mr. Temporary Speaker, Sir, What was the purpose of the Equalisation Fund? The Majority Leader has mentioned it. This was part of enhancing devolution. Therefore, if you want to find the basis of Article 204, you have to read Article 174 – The Objects of Devolution. The people who have moved and seconded this Bill have not mentioned, this one I am surprised they have supported it. One of those objects is to protect, to promote the interest and rights of minorities and marginalized communities; that is Article 204 – Objects of Devolution. If you are going to touch the Objects of Devolution, Article 255 requires a referendum. That is why I oppose this Bill. Who is the person who is mandated to do this under this Constitution? Article 216 (4) of the Constitution states:- “The Commission shall determine, publish and regularly review a policy in which it sets out the criteria by which to identify the marginalized areas for purposes of Article 204 (2).” The Commission on Revenue Allocation (CRA) formulated the marginalization policy which was tabled before the National Assembly. We forget that before this Senate, the National Assembly was both sitting as the National Assembly and as the Senate under the transitional clause. They were given a mandate by this Constitution to discuss the marginalization policy on our behalf. That marginalization policy identified 14 counties and it was passed. If they acted on our behalf as the Senate, on what basis will we pass this policy that removes counties and replaces them with constituencies? 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"
}