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{
    "id": 767736,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/767736/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 189,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "Hon. Ogolla",
    "speaker_title": "",
    "speaker": {
        "id": 1264,
        "legal_name": "Gideon Ochanda Ogolla",
        "slug": "gideon-ochanda-ogolla"
    },
    "content": "we were not supposed to get the additional Kshs10 billion over the Kshs25 billion. So the corrective value in this Bill is very important. It would be my prayer that if you were able to remind the House every single time we have figures and statements that border on budget and stuff like that, we really need to be very careful so that people do not correct us out there. Right now we are talking about a Kshs3 billion mistake. Imagine it would have escaped us, both Houses, and it would have gone out there and somebody would be talking about how Parliament could not be able to look at the issues of Kshs3 billion. So I think it is important that we keep reminding ourselves that when figures come around we really need to be very careful. The other thing that I wanted to bring out is that counties are grinding to a halt. And when they grind to a halt for a moment, a lot of our rural economies are more dependent on the monies that get to the counties. In one way or the other, the monies that are transferred to the counties support our economies in a much bigger way to an extent that when months pass without money getting transferred to the counties, there is a very big problem, and a genuine one for that matter. The other important thing is the issue of conditional grants. I remember in the first year of the last Parliament, monies were given. We gave monies to the counties. And these monies were given in terms of the functions, which included the issue of polytechnics. If you checked around, it is like no county put any money on those village polytechnics, to an extent that we had to go to the second or third year to make sure that we placed conditional grants for purposes of village polytechnics. So it is important that we keep reminding ourselves of what should make counties behave well, particularly when it comes to funding for conditional grants, such that we are sure that certain services and activities are carried out the way they are supposed to be done in a single year. The other thing that, as we talk about this is important we remind ourselves, is the numerous factors that are listed in Article 203(1) of the Constitution. They are a number. But apparently as we move on, in the last number of years as we implement this and as we share revenue, it is like some of these factors are not considered. One of them is the whole issue of optimising the revenues that can be collected locally and a reward is supposed to follow. When a county does very well, the Constitution allows that that county needs to be rewarded. Right now we are talking about counties grinding to a halt, not because of anything but a lot of them are unable to collect levies from internal sources of revenue generation. A lot of them have not been creative. A lot of them are dependent on the national government to an extent that when there is a small technical problem like this, counties are unable to operate and yet it is a requirement in the Constitution. With time we need to check how many counties are able to do certain things beyond what ordinarily happens such that we are able to reward them. I remember what is happening in my own county and the neighbouring counties. They are unable to raise a quarter of what the local authorities were generating when we were under local government. So in the end they are almost 90 to 95 per cent dependent on what is coming from Nairobi. This is something that, in my view, if we were checking in terms of those factors, once you are able to generate more money, you are rewarded with more money in law because that is in the Constitution. As I support this, for purposes of the county governments to be able to run in the next number of years, they need to focus on their own internal revenue sources beyond depending on Nairobi such that they are able to do certain things on their own. Hon. Speaker, thank you. 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."
}