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{
    "id": 797060,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/797060/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 212,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "Hon. Baya",
    "speaker_title": "",
    "speaker": {
        "id": 13373,
        "legal_name": "Owen Yaa Baya",
        "slug": "owen-yaa-baya"
    },
    "content": "Therefore, the framers of the Constitution, in Article 204, wanted to cure this marginalisation having learnt from the history of this country that for many years, resources were going to one end and leaving other ends bare. That is why they said in Article 204 that there shall be an Equalisation Fund. I congratulate the Chairman of the Budget and Appropriations Committee for ensuring that this money is unlocked so as to come back to the people. He says that he would want his Kikuyu Constituency to be included as part of the marginalised communities. This further perpetuates marginalisation. Therefore, those counties that have been identified as marginalised will resist any attempt or move to sneak in other counties into the list of the 14. The Equalisation Fund is meant to take care of water, health, electricity and roads in 14 counties. But for the eight years that this Constitution has been in place, this money has not been released despite the fact that the money was appropriated. I remember when the Cabinet Secretary for the National Treasury visited my county, which is one of the 14 marginalised counties, we brought everybody and people were excited about the Equalisation Fund. It just ended there. There was just a meeting that identified projects, money was set aside, but nothing was implemented. It is very sad to note that the Committee in charge of the Equalisation Fund has spent over Kshs400 million just sitting in the office and drinking tea. The people of Kilifi, where I come from, have been very optimistic that this Constitution would cure diseases and many things that for many years have afflicted them. But, you find that they are despairing. The Constitution they had high hopes for has become an empty promise. The Equalisation Fund, devolution and investigations into historical injustices are probably the only reasons the people of Kilifi voted for the new Constitution. There are only 12 years left for us to implement the Equalisation Fund. The framers of the Constitution were very clear that within 20 years, those counties that were historically and systematically marginalised will be at par with those that have benefitted from the system for many years. Today, people are still languishing in poverty. They do not have electricity, water, health facilities and roads. Suffice to say that when the President talks about the Big Four Agenda, he now has a bigger burden to implement it. Had the Equalisation Fund been implemented, we would probably not be allocating more money to it. The President talks about health and water, which are the same things that the Equalisation Fund talked about in Article 204. Today, we are formulating a new policy to cure the same things that the framers of the Constitution thought the Equalisation Fund, under Article 204, would cure. This is retrogressive thinking. We put money in the Constitution to take care of some things and the technocrats do not implement it. It takes the President to say that we need a new policy and vision called the Big Four Agenda, which was thought about by the framers of the Constitution. As I finish, the Committee – and I have seen the able leadership of my friend, Hon. Kimani Ichung’wah - should press even harder. They should carry a big stick to the National Treasury and whip the people to do what every Kenyan in the marginalised communities expects. They expect delivery of services that have been promised and enshrined in the Constitution. He will have done great justice. Probably after this term, he may retire smiling because he will have done something great for this country. I beg to support the Motion."
}