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{
    "id": 730461,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/730461/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 111,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "Hon. Midiwo",
    "speaker_title": "",
    "speaker": {
        "id": 184,
        "legal_name": "Washington Jakoyo Midiwo",
        "slug": "jakoyo-midiwo"
    },
    "content": "Thank you, Hon. Temporary Deputy Speaker. I rise to second and agree with the Chairman of the Budget and Appropriations Committee. First of all, that the Senate would attempt to increase allocations to the county governments is, in itself, not well explained to the country. That is because it is in public domain that part of the reasons why this country has problems with corruption is because it has been exported to the counties. If the Senate were fair to this country, the Senate Committee on Public Accounts will really be churning out their reports on weekly basis on the misappropriation of funds in the counties. The Chair has said that the levies or revenues that are being collected by the county governments are lower than what was collected by the local governments. I want to give an example of Siaya County Government. Siaya had Siaya County Council and Bondo County Council. Siaya County Council used to collect, without Bondo with all the 74 beach fronts, Kshs150 million before devolution. Under the current Governor, and the county government, with both Bondo and Siaya combined, they collect just about Kshs120 million. I am an ardent supporter of devolution, but I hate corruption. I hate that the governors are stealing and nobody is doing anything about it. I love the fact that this House recently passed a law that restricts capital expenditure in county governments up to three months before elections. They must know that by May 8th, they cannot initiate new projects. That is where the problems are. I am happy also that the Budget and Appropriations Committee has stopped – in a Report – the Senate from allocating monies to the counties for reasons which somebody can only accuse them of thinking wrongly for this country. There is no reason because it is like taking a cup of water and pouring it in Lake Victoria. That is what they are doing. It is going to get lost. You will never know which part of that water was in the cup. The monies that those people have squandered, we have no business allowing them to use any more single cent before August 9th. It would be imprudent, careless and criminal on the part of this House. The next Senate and the National Assembly must go back to the drawing board in making laws that will force austerity measures on how public funds are spent by the governors. There is no reason whatsoever why the governors are procurement officers. It was never intended to be that way; it must be ended if we are to accept and enjoy the benefits of devolution. The President is the Head of State. The President has ministries. The President does not pay bills. The President does not do tendering. Why are the governors tendering? If you ask anybody who works in county Governments what happens there, they do not know. I wish this country would borrow some of my thinking. The Constitution says those people are eligible for a maximum of two terms. If you re-elect them, they will loot this country dry because there is nobody to check on them. The Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission (EACC) is the one that leads from the front when it comes to corruption. They are the most 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."
}