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{
    "id": 800769,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/800769/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 329,
    "type": "other",
    "speaker_name": "",
    "speaker_title": "",
    "speaker": null,
    "content": "The allocation to the county governments is pegged on the latest audited reports. Therefore, if we are on the 2013/2014 audited reports, it means that we are late and therefore denying the county governments the right amount of money that should be allocated to them. Madam Temporary Speaker, when we raised the issue with the National Treasury, they said that even if we use the audited report of 2013/2014, they are still way above the 15 per cent. However, the 15 per cent is supposed to be the minimum. It is not the utmost. We are denying the county governments a lot of resources that should be going to them. The three areas that were identified to benefit from the Kshs3.7billion are to the development of our counties and that of Kenya. If we look at agriculture, are we looking at the input or the infrastructure? The Government should concern itself with more of the infrastructure. We are still having rains. It rained so much in my county and people have ended up displaced. They are Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) in their own villages because of the rains and lack of proper planning. Therefore, when we talk of about the development of the agricultural sector, are we talking about irrigation, putting up dams in places or the bread baskets of this country such as the Rift Valley and Nyanza? It is very important that we utilize this money well and put it in the right place for it to add value to our agriculture. It is not just a matter of identifying a few counties and giving them money. It is about getting food security for Kenya. This issue should be looked into without being tribal in any way. It should be done in a prudent way to utilize resources. Madam Temporary Speaker, what do we mean when we talk of water tower protection? There is already a scandal about the planting of trees. An amount of Kshs2 billion is still at stake. We do not know how it was spent. I do not understand how someone can say that anybody has trees worth Kshs2 billion in this country. What were the people who approved that budget looking at? If you ask me, I will tell you point blank that I do not know anywhere in this country where we can get seedlings or trees that are worth Kshs2 billion. Therefore, if the money is missing, the people who were working on it knew that it was just to hoodwink the public and pretend that we are planting trees. If any school got trees worth Kshs10 million, it should be seen. In my county of Kisumu or my village, I did not see any school receive the trees. I hear that 205 schools were identified for the project. I do not know the counties that those belong to because I did not see any in Kisumu County. I think that Kisumu is one of the counties that should be concerned with tree planting because some areas like Kano are very bare and plain. The water towers such as the Mau and many areas should be guarded. If we are not identifying the right areas and yet we say that we are serious with our money and work that we are doing, I can tell you for sure that many Kenyans are very skeptical when it comes to money being devolved to county governments because there are scandals, one after the other. The way the money is spent does not make anybody have confidence in even supporting the allocation to be increased. Madam Temporary Speaker, I am happy that we have increased allocations in the right areas. Looking at urban development, we need to plan our towns and have neat and 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."
}