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{
    "id": 714930,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/714930/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 185,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "Hon. Musyimi",
    "speaker_title": "",
    "speaker": {
        "id": 95,
        "legal_name": "Mutava Musyimi",
        "slug": "mutava-musyimi"
    },
    "content": "Kshs900 million, conditional allocations for Level 5 hospitals of Kshs4.2 billion, conditional allocation for construction of county headquarters of Kshs605 million and conditional allocation for rehabilitation of village polytechnics of Kshs2 billion. I need to say something here. During the Intergovernmental Budget and Economic Council (IBEC) discussions held earlier in the year under the very able chairmanship of the Deputy President, there was an agreement that money should be set aside and ring-fenced to force the hands of county governors and county governments to make sure that they do not ignore village polytechnics. We cannot just leave this at their sweet and good pleasure. So, we have resolved, as the Budget and Appropriations Committee, to make this money available to them, but ring-fence it. It should be given to them as conditional grant, so that county polytechnics across the country get the necessary attention. We all know that many primary school children who did their exams last year will not make it to Form One in the next one or two weeks. Where do these children go? Those who go to Form One may not even make it to Form Four. Where do they go? They cannot qualify for TVETs, polytechnics and universities. We must tell the governors and the county government that it is absolutely crucial that this Kshs2 billion goes strictly to develop village polytechnics, which is their mandate as is demanded of them in Schedule Four in our Constitution. The conditional allocation for the Fuel Levy is 15 per cent of collections of Kshs7.875 billion and the conditional allocations for loans and grants of Kshs12.5414 billion. We recommend that the conditional allocation to county governments meant for free maternity healthcare of Kshs3.4 billion be allocated as a special grant to the NHIF to be dispersed as reimbursements. We believe that this will bring efficiency in the disbursement of the healthcare funds. We recommend that the county health fund legislation be enacted to provide for setting up of health funds for each county government. This will improve the management of funds for the health sector in the counties by ensuring that these funds are ring-fenced. We also recommend that the National Treasury develops a framework on commitment control for the MDAs in order to address this very important issue of pending bills decisively and conclusively. We recommend that the National Treasury reviews the public-private partnerships (PPPs) policy to ensure that all fiscal risks are minimised and there is effective and efficient implementation of all PPPs and the related projects. In addition, a report should be tabled in this House of total cost of all PPPs, including the contingent liabilities arising therein. We recommend the medium-term debt management strategy proposal of 60 against 40 borrowing strategy for external and domestic borrowing. The 60 per cent external borrowing comprising of semi-concessional, 30 per cent commercial, and 10 per cent be approved. Any deviation from the approved framework in the course of the financial year must receive parliamentary approval and legislation shall be enacted to this effect. The whole idea here is to come up with a policy that replaces short-term borrowing with long-term borrowing, which is a cheaper way to go. We recommend that the MTEF sector working groups, as I said earlier on, be restructured to provide for an oversight sector that includes Parliament, Controller of Budget, Auditor-General and the EACC. We recommend that the amount for the Equalisation Fund be set at Kshs7 billion. I am very glad I had a chat with the Chairman of the caucus that deals with the Equalisation Fund, the Member for North Horr, Hon. Chachu, and he seems satisfied. I have confirmed to him that this Kshs7 billion is part of the money that is contained within the ceiling with respect to the The electronic version of the Official Hansard Report is for information purposesonly. A certified version of this Report can be obtained from the Hansard Editor."
}