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{
    "id": 897206,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/897206/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 114,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "Sen. Olekina",
    "speaker_title": "",
    "speaker": {
        "id": 407,
        "legal_name": "Ledama Olekina",
        "slug": "ledama-olekina"
    },
    "content": "Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir, saying that Kshs1.56 trillion remain with the national Government and only Kshs310 billion goes to the county governments, makes me wonder what we are doing in this House. This is the time that I do not give a hoot whether we call for the national Government shut down. We have to put our feet on the ground and more money has to go to the county governments. Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir, I hope that the distinguished Senators who will go to mediation will be able to stand there and look at the National Assembly team and insist that the only way we can agree, if even, at the beginning, the base of negotiation is at Kshs314 billion and nothing less. We increased the revenue allocated to counties to Kshs335 billion because we saw all that is happening in this country. We are talking about our economy growing by 6.3 per cent. Why is it that the economy is growing yet we are killing the county governments which we are supposed to support? This House is not a rubberstamp. We cannot be rubber-stamping legislations. I have a lot of respect for the Cabinet Secretary for the National Treasury, but with this one, I begin to lose respect for him. He cannot sit there and decided to reduce the money that goes to counties to Kshs310 billion yet this House, in its wisdom, thought otherwise. The amount of work that the Committee on Finance has undertaken and all these other agencies which are tasked with looking at how the economy is growing has recommended that we increase more money, to at least, Kshs335 billion yet he has decided to unilaterally reduce it down to Ksh310 billion. A few days ago, we had a stakeholders meeting at the County Public Accounts and Investments Committee (CPAIC) where we requested the Cabinet Secretary for the National Treasury to provide us with the contract that they signed with the manufacturers for this MES programme. We gave them a few days but the CAS who represented the Cabinet Secretary then said, “I do not think I can commit to giving you that agreement.” So, what are we saying? There are things which are allowed for the national Government to do yet we are supposed to ensure that everything we are doing is for the interest of"
}