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{
    "id": 909150,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/909150/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 328,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "Sen. Olekina",
    "speaker_title": "",
    "speaker": {
        "id": 407,
        "legal_name": "Ledama Olekina",
        "slug": "ledama-olekina"
    },
    "content": "I want to tell Kenyans that today, the National Assembly failed you. They failed you because the Members of the Mediation Committee from the National Assembly went there as an extension of the national Government and their interest was only to ensure that the national Government gets money. It is very sad because the Constitution is clear that revenue raised nationally shall be shared equitably among the national and county governments. Madam Temporary Speaker, when we went to look at the Division of Revenue Bill, I was perplexed when a Member of the National Assembly told me that I was only limited to looking at the money going to county governments. When we asked the justification for giving the National Youth Service (NYS) an additional Kshs10 billion, they said: “No. You cannot look at that. We have no money.” I am so proud to be a Member of the Senate because of its attentiveness to detail. The figures which were proposed in the Budget Policy Statement did not just come out of nowhere. The Commission on Revenue Allocation (CRA) looked at the average inflation for the last three years which was about 6.9 per cent and recommended that we get an additional Kshs21.7 billion which brought the figures to Kshs335 billion. When we asked our colleagues from the National Assembly, they said that they do not know where the money is coming from. Madam Temporary Speaker, we have to relate our thinking, reasoning, championing and defending this Constitution through facts. Those are the facts we had on the table. Today, I am proud that we said no to Kshs316 billion because we want more services and more money to go to county governments. Under Article 203 of the Constitution, it is very clear that when money is being shared, you have to do so looking at the need to ensure that county governments are able to perform the functions allocated to them. This Constitution has devolved health. How do we expect county governments to have drugs and build facilities, yet you maintain a budget of the Ministry of Health here, which is equivalent to the money that you send to five counties? I want to tell---"
}