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{
    "id": 743067,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/743067/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 170,
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    "speaker": null,
    "content": "At the same time, it is even lower than what the National Treasury recommended, Kshs299 billion. So, accepting the Bill as it is has a challenge. It clearly would be slighting the Senate. It would make a nonsense of the Senate that had rejected the same, Kshs291 billion earlier. So, we ruled out that option. The second option was to make amendments. Again, we looked at that possibility. Making an amendment from Kshs291 billion to Kshs314 billion is the same amendments we did last time. We tabled the amendments in the House and they were passed. However, they were rejected in the Mediation Committee. So, we opted for the third option which is to reject the Bill. Under Article 112 of the Constitution, if one House rejects the Bill, then it automatically goes for mediation. So, if we go ahead and reject this Bill as it is as tabled today, then it will go to mediation. I have heard what the Senate Majority Leader has said. He has said that the Government that he represents is now willing to negotiate on a higher figure which is higher than the Kshs291 billion. If we go for negotiation, our Committee is open to negotiation. That is why it is called a Mediation Committee. It is open to any figure that is equal to or above what the National Treasury has recommended, Kshs299 billion. What I got from the Majority Leader is that the Executive which controls the “Lower House” will appropriately advise them. If they come to the negotiation with clean hands willing to increase the amounts, then we have no problem with it. We will look at it. We have challenges because the Council of Governors (CoG) has submitted their memorandum. They have many challenges. That money will not be enough. We have seen the strike by the nurses. There is a compromise that has to be reached and money has to be paid. Concerning doctors, there is a CBA, and money has to be paid yet there is nothing that has been factored in this budget. They are supposed to be paid out of the equitable share of revenue. At the same time, you will appreciate that there is a court ruling allowing the MCAs to complete their five years. It has to be paid out of the equitable share. So, there are many challenges. When you put all that money together – in fact, according to the CoG, they will need at least Kshs311 billion but we will be willing to go to the negotiation and see whether there will be anything new that will come to the table. Otherwise, our position is that this House must reject this Bill which is essentially an attempt to slight and undermine the role of this House which clearly is to represent the interest of the county governments. That is our position. We are happy with the conditional allocations. The National Treasury has reviewed the amount higher because of the fuel levy fund. They have increased the amount by an additional Kshs8 billion. For the conditional allocation, we have no issues. I do not think there is any particular group or stakeholders who have an issue with that. Otherwise, this is the position. The Kshs314 billion that we had recommend was based on the recommendation of the CRA. This is a statutory body, an independent commission expressly created by the people of Kenya to advise Parliament on how money should be shared out between the two levels of Government. We cannot throw out of the window their recommendations entirely. So, when they came up with a recommendation of Kshs314 billion, we based ours on that."
}