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{
    "id": 799051,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/799051/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 276,
    "type": "other",
    "speaker_name": "",
    "speaker_title": "",
    "speaker": null,
    "content": "we transfer roads, libraries, ferries, harbors and everything that should be going to the counties. Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir, you will notice that in the prior years, only two counties managed to get Kshs10billion and above; Turkana and Nairobi. In this Bill, at least five counties are going to get Kshs10 billion. They are: Kakamega, Nairobi, Turkana, Kilifi and Mandera. Cumulatively, Kshs1.015 trillion has gone to counties out of that, if you add today’s Kshs372 billion and what counties collect, we can safely say that since the advent of devolution, counties have received or will receive by the end of the next financial year, Kshs1.5 trillion. There was a lot of debate when the newspapers revealed how this money was to be allocated to counties. There are certain cities like Mombasa and Kisumu that are still getting below Kshs10 billion.What rationale do you use to allocate Kilifi Kshs10,833,000,000 and Mombasa Kshs8,226,800,000 yet Mombasa is a city and Kilifi is a level below a city! The answer lies in the revenue formula that has been approved by this House and there are problems with that formula. Previous speakers have talked about it and Sen. Wetangula talked about the population measure. There are those people who have a problem with the land area measure. If you are going to assign eight percent on land area and you have a county like Turkana with vastness of everything and vastness of nothingness and you are going to allocate money on the basis of the nothingness that lies on that land mass, then you end up giving certain counties more than counties like Kisii which are smaller, much densely populated but with land that is utilized effectively. Thankfully, it is within our powers as the Senate to have a look at that formula. I will pick on one particular aspect of that revenue generation formula. This Report does not tell us how the fiscal effort or responsibility parameter was awarded but my own calculations indicate that the two per cent that was set aside for fiscal responsibility, the bulk of it was taken by counties like Mombasa and Lamu. I think that Mombasa got Kshs1 billion and so did Lamu. Homa Bay County and Tharaka-Nithi County got close to zero because the only basis for determination of fiscal effort or fiscal responsibility has been on collection of own source revenue. That must change and as we go into the third generation, we must not only look at the issues of collection of own source revenue but we must also bring into consideration audit opinions. Sen. Dullo talked about audit opinion from Isiolo which was very adverse and had interesting findings yet there is no disincentive for that. That must be looked into. I want to focus more on how these monies will be used in the counties. I hope that when we send this money to the counties, because it is our job as the Senate to do that, it will not be used on the kind of adventures that I have seen coming out of my county of Homa Bay. In Homa Bay, they want to construct a house for the Speaker at a cost of Kshs150 million. If you have Kshs150 million in your pocket and you wanted to buy something, come to Homa Bay. I will sell to you an entire island not just a house for the Speaker of the County Assembly. It is insane, irrational and unbelievable that the SRC could advise counties to spend upwards of Kshs150 million on speakers’ residences. In fact, the SRC, through its recommendations, opened the gates for Kshs174 million for houses of speakers and governors. The effect of that recommendation was that they could spend up to Kshs225 million for the houses of governors. We must move a Motion to 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"
}