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{
    "id": 897150,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/897150/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 58,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "Sen. Wetangula",
    "speaker_title": "",
    "speaker": {
        "id": 210,
        "legal_name": "Moses Masika Wetangula",
        "slug": "moses-wetangula"
    },
    "content": "Mr. Speaker, Sir, now that “the mountain” is tranquil, I will go on. This Bill as passed by the National Assembly must be passed in this House in an extremely qualified manner; qualified to the extent that at Third Reading, we must carry out major amendments to give to the counties what is constitutionally and dully owed to them. Mr. Speaker, Sir, if you look at the national budget, it has been increasing year after year. Even when the national Government tells us that revenue collection has dwindled, they still provide to Parliament budgets that are higher than the previous year. Last year, this House passed a Division of Revenue Bill that grudgingly gave counties Kshs314 billion to be shared among the 47 counties. Common philosophy in life is that we live incrementally; we cannot live by reduction. Today, we are dealing with a Bill from the National Assembly where it has been curiously reduced from Kshs314 billion to Kshs310 billion. Secondly, this Kshs310 billion is a departure, without any explanation, from the recommendation of our technical advisor in revenue allocation - the Commission on Revenue Allocation (CRA). Mr. Speaker, Sir, the Committee has painstakingly gone through this process. For the first time I laud the Council of Governors (CoG) for appearing before the Committee. In previous years, we have voiced it on this Floor that governors used to go to Intergovernmental Budget and Economic Council (IBEC), cut deals with the national Government and put the Senate in a very difficult situation in dealing with revenue allocation. This time round, governors appeared before the Committee and told us that they rejected the offer at IBEC. They also made some very cogent submissions to the Committee. Equally important, I salute some young girl form the City of Nairobi called Vivian. This lady appeared before the Committee‟s public hearing and she had greater knowledge of revenue division and sharing than anybody I have met since devolution. She submitted to the Committee in a manner that the Committee had no choice but to agree with her, wholly. In fact, this Senate should engage such a person as a resource person in future engagements of this nature. She was well read, vast, articulate and she had figures at her fingertips. I wish Kenyans can do the same in their interest in this allocation of revenue. 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."
}