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"id": 895722,
"url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/895722/?format=api",
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"type": "speech",
"speaker_name": "Sen. Cheruiyot",
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"speaker": {
"id": 13165,
"legal_name": "Aaron Kipkirui Cheruiyot",
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"content": "Mr. Temporary Speaker, Sir, the President also spoke – and rightfully so – to a great length about not turning back on devolution. I agree with him 100 per cent. Devolution is the silver bullet which, if we were to get it right, this country would change for good. However, it is important for his administration to enumerate--- He has given the figure that, as of that afternoon when he addressed the nation from Parliament, his administration had channeled a whooping Kshs1.7 trillion to our county governments. However, the question that many of the citizens we represent in this House keep asking is whether we can tangibly point out and say what that money has achieved in our counties. It is unfortunate because many of our citizens do not feel that devolution has brought value for money for them. This began even with how we structured the law on devolution. As long as we keep a constant of 70 per cent on recurrent expenditure, then it is not good business. If one was to run a business where, at the end of each financial year, they declare that 70 per cent of their income ends up paying salaries for staff and maybe the rest for the overheads, one would not be running a successful enterprise. Mr. Temporary Speaker, Sir, one of the things that we need to creatively think about, as a House, is how we can ensure that this 70-30 divide of recurrent vis-à-vis development vote is reduced over the years. This should be done in such a way that by the time we get to the third cycle of devolution, we will be reversing it and ensuring that not every coin in the 70 per cent that we devolve ends up paying people‘s salaries. I do not believe that the dream of the people who crafted our Constitution and the aspiration of Kenyans was that for every Kshs10 that we send to our counties, Kshs7 would end up paying for salaries and electricity bills. That is a challenge we need to address. On the issue of the economy, the President spoke on how he feels the economy is going strong. That may be true, because figures and statistics can be misleading. The Kenya National Bureau of Statistics (KNBS) can give figures year after year to show that Kenya is growing at a rate of 6 to 7 per cent. However, the biggest question we need to ask is whether, if we were to take a walk down the country and listen to the people, they would tell us that life is getting better or harder in their opinion? In my opinion, the truth is that many of the people, especially the youth, feel that his administration is not addressing pertinent issues facing them. Manufacturing, which is one of his Big Four Agenda, is supposed to create jobs. Unfortunately, many of the quotes he gave in that Address were about large corporations. For example, he spoke of how Peugeot has set up a plant for manufacturing vehicles here in the Republic. However, many of the youth feel that we need to spend a significant amount supporting small time entrepreneurs who are setting up light industries. Those are the people that will employ many of our youth in the tens of thousands more than Peugeot. We may celebrate that Peugeot has set up a plant in Kenya. However, we ought to compare that with having a fund that will support many of the upcoming entrepreneurs in terms of ensuring that when they access business in Government, they are paid on a timely basis. The fund would also ensure a tax regime that is favourable to many of these young people that are in business, and that ensure that their businesses are sustainable. That would address the issue of many of them being jobless. In that regard, I felt that the President needed to pay a closer attention. 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."
}