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{
    "id": 798029,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/798029/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 113,
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    "content": "legislation, our work is the oversight role where we have to make sure that counties are operating properly within provided legislation. The President noted the issue of finances and resources where certain individuals have corrupted their ways and ensured that the money that is meant for certain programmes has ended up in their pockets. In his Address, the President encouraged the Office of Director of Public Prosecutions and the Judiciary to make sure that corrupt people are held responsible. In the Address, he mentioned that assets to the tune of Kshs500 million were recovered internationally and several proceedings are taking place in terms of preservation and protection of the assets which are valued at almost Kshs6 billion. That is a lot of money if we seriously protect the interest of this country. I will request the Senate to join the President in making sure that we follow the procedures in terms of oversight and pin down those who are corrupt in this country. We cannot allow this to continue when Kenyans are suffering wherever they are. In his Address, H.E the president mentioned that corruption is embedded in all the counties. As a Senate, we are allocating a lot of money to counties and it has now increased from what was there before. Recently, an amount of Kshs372 billion was approved for disbursement to the counties during the financial year 2018/2019. This is way above the 15 per cent that is normally required. Secondly, there is Kshs9.6 billion for the management of equipment and services which was provided for within the same budget. There is also Kshs5.2 billion for free maternity and Kshs900 million for user fees. If we are serious, this Senate should make sure that the money that is spent, and we approve as a Senate, should help Kenyans so that they do not continue suffering. A good example is the petition that we have just received. The money still goes to the counties. How can we ensure as a Senate that county governments deliver services to our people? How can we improve service delivery? Some of the hospitals have many challenges. They do not have drugs, service delivery is very poor and staff issues are a headache day in, day out. We have various committees that need to look at all these and ensure that whatever is provided for is utilized properly. There should have also been auditing of all the equipment, especially when the second regime of governors took over. We should have had an audit of all the equipment that were left by the previous governors. I think that this is not taken seriously in most counties. This House needs to do a lot to make sure that we have taken care of the interests of our people in terms of service delivery. There was a statement made by His Excellency the President in terms of Kenyans being resilient to their economy. Our Gross Domestic Product (GDP) has grown to 4.9 per cent through tourism earnings despite our challenges. We had a lot of problems during elections and thereafter, the results were disputed. Despite all that, we have clearly showed that we are able, as a country, to be resilient in terms of our economy. As a country, we can do a lot to make sure that we improve our GDP from 4.9 per cent to 10 per cent. The President mentioned the issues of creation of jobs, general prosperity and the fight against poverty. I believe that these are issues that we still need to work on. Most of The electronic version of the Senate Hansard Report is for information purposes only. A certified version of this Report can be obtained from the Hansard Editor, Senate."
}