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{
    "id": 797018,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/797018/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 170,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "Hon. Ng’ongo",
    "speaker_title": "",
    "speaker": {
        "id": 110,
        "legal_name": "John Mbadi Ng'ong'o",
        "slug": "john-mbadi"
    },
    "content": "responsibility of implementing the Appropriation Acts that this Parliament passed failed to do so, we are here again re-appropriating the same amount. I agree with the Leader of the Majority Party that we need to amend the PFM Act to cushion this Fund like any other fund that is cushioned like the NG-CDF so that we do not come back to re-appropriate sums that we had already appropriated. It entrenches marginalisation. What even annoyed me further when we met with the Commission on Revenue Allocation as the Budget and Appropriations Committee is that the secretariat, which is purely Government technocrats, have spent well over Kshs400 million on implementing nothing over the years. They have not implemented anything yet they are spending money. This is a Fund that is being expended by people who are managing it but are managing it sitting in the office and money is not going to the areas it should go to. We had identified the counties, through the CRA, which were supposed to benefit from this Fund and we appropriated Kshs12 billion in two consecutive years. See where we are. The provision in the Constitution is clear that 0.5 per cent of revenue based on the last audited accounts should be transferred to this Fund every year. That is a constitutional requirement. The question is, are we transferring 0.5 per cent? It cannot be that the first year it was Kshs6 billion, the second year it is Kshs6 billion yet revenue keeps on rising. The National Treasury needs to be serious with this money and transfer the correct amount. Even as we talk about this Equalisation Fund, I think as a country we need to be careful. We may use this Fund to marginalise further the marginalised areas, because we will not be allocating adequate funds to these areas for development by simply using the excuse of the Fund, which cannot do a significant project if you look at it critically. So, something needs to be done, an intervention, affirmative action, so that these areas also come up. Where I want to disagree a little bit with the Leader of the Majority Party is that the Constitution has talked about marginalised areas; it does not talk about marginalised counties. I think it should be observed that there are some counties that when you look at globally, or in terms of statistics from the Kenya National Bureau of Statistics (KNBS), as a county—like Kajiado is either the richest or second to Nairobi—but there are specific areas in Kajiado that are more marginalised than a place in Garissa Township where the Leader of the Majority Party represents. As a matter of fact, there are some counties that are marginalised entirely, like Mandera and Garissa. There is no debate about it. But if you compare Garissa Township with Suba South and Suba North constituencies, you will agree with me—at least Suba North; Suba South is even worse. I will tell you that this is the first time in history, when I have been Member of Parliament, when Suba South people have seen a tarmac road. There are so many areas in the country which almost have tarmac roads everywhere. So, there is marginalisation within the counties. I think that is what CRA must identify. Let our brothers who come from these marginalised counties, and I know many of them, including Mandera, Garissa, Wajir, Tana River, Turkana, also accept that there are pockets of areas in certain counties which are marginalised. Not Kikuyu obviously. You need really to convince a stranger. Even a stranger in Kenya cannot be convinced that Kikuyu or even Kiambu in its entirety is marginalised. Hon. Waititu talks of Juja Constituency being marginalised. Some MPs even told us that Kibra is marginalised. It is not marginalisation in terms of poverty. The marginalisation we are talking about here is about roads, health, water and electricity. The Constitution is very specific. An area is considered marginalised under this Equalisation Fund if it does not have roads, health facilities, water and electricity that you can compare with the rest The electronic version of the Official Hansard Report is for information purposes only. Acertified version of this Report can be obtained from the Hansard Editor."
}