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{
    "id": 855069,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/855069/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 238,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "Sen. Cheruiyot",
    "speaker_title": "",
    "speaker": {
        "id": 13165,
        "legal_name": "Aaron Kipkirui Cheruiyot",
        "slug": "aaron-cheruiyot"
    },
    "content": "argument is what holds to be true. I do not believe that the national Government has got the best capacity to determine everything for the counties. That is a fallacious argument which we should not continue to enshrine in the Senate. Unfortunately, some of the provisions of this Bill support that fallacy, and you will realize it when you read it. One of the overviews that we are told is that they want to provide empowerment for contracting authorities by granting them the permission to reserve certain projects for disadvantaged groups; and ensuring that county governments are also considered as contracting authorities. Who does the national Government consult when it does its major projects, such as PPPs or the ones that are granted by loans such as the Standard Gauge Railway (SGR) or the one for the wind power in Lake Turkana? They consult nobody. It is a decision that it is made by national Government and we, from the 47 counties who are gathered here, will eventually pay. It will be important that we also look at the composition of the PPP unit. Despite the fact that the object of what we are trying to achieve is to make sure that county governments have the capacity, it bothers me when we only have two representatives of county governments. We are determining and saying that eventually, when counties present the list of priority projects before this particular Unit, there will be a team of six or ten officials from the national Government, but only two representing county governments. Surely, what are we saying? We had proposed in the Committee that the neater thing for us to do was to have a capping of these projects. However, I have not been able to scrutinise the report to see if it is included therein. These projects can determine the capacity of a county to absorb debt. For example, if a county collects revenue of Kshs400 or Kshs500 million, we can pick a figure of five and say that the county assembly should approve projects of up to Kshs2.5 billion. Let the county executive propose and enter into such projects with the approval of the county assemblies. The continuous obsession with the national Government that we continue to inculcate every now and then as we do laws is not fair to county governments. The CoG appeared before us and shared with us good views about this particular trend. Madam Temporary Speaker, I also propose that Section 24(3) be amended by adding the words „in consultation with the county governments through the Council of Governors‟ immediately after the words „Cabinet Secretary‟. It will be a great injustice and we will be left with a bad dent on our face if, as the Senate, we allow this law to pass as it is; where the final determination is made by the Cabinet Secretary (CS) alone without the input of the CoG, yet we pride ourselves as the defenders of county governments. I had said during my initial submissions that there are non-negotiable minimums. The first one is on the figure that the county assembly should approve. The second one is the provision of the law that this should be in consultation with the county governments. Madam Temporary Speaker, the fourth and the final one is that a replica of the format used in drafting the Public Finance Management Act of 2012 should separate the provisions of the approval of the county PPPs from the ones from the national Government. This only appears to be specific to having one unit. It is still in support of what I am saying so that at the level of our county assemblies, it is easy to domesticate this law and pass it. For example, while their qualifications might be Kshs2 billion or The electronic version of the Senate Hansard Report is for information purposesonly. A certified version of this Report can be obtained from the Hansard Editor, Senate."
}