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{
    "id": 916533,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/916533/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 93,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "Sen. (Eng.) Mahamud",
    "speaker_title": "",
    "speaker": {
        "id": 373,
        "legal_name": "Mohammed Maalim Mahamud",
        "slug": "mohammed-mahamud"
    },
    "content": "Mr. Deputy Speaker Sir, Article 218 (1)(a) of the Constitution provides that the Division of Revenue Bill shall divide revenue raised by the national Government among the national and county levels of government in accordance with the Constitution. The Division of Revenue Bill therefore forms the basis upon which the two levels of Government prepare legal instruments for public expenditure. Without the enactment of the Division of Revenue Bill, the consideration and passing of the County Allocation of Revenue Bill, 2019, a Bill that is crucial to the efficient management of county governments, cannot proceed. Mr. Deputy Speaker Sir, Article 224 of the Constitution provides that: “on the basis of the Division of Revenue Bill approved by Parliament under Article 218, each county government shall prepare and adopt its own annual budget and appropriation Bill in the form, and according to the procedure, prescribed in an Act of Parliament”. Therefore, the consequence of not passing the Division of Revenue Bill and the County Allocation of Revenue Bill before the beginning of the new financial year is that county governments are precluded from preparing their own annual budgets and appropriation Bills. Failure to pass the Division of Revenue Bill therefore, has caused uncertainty in the budget process at the county level of government. The only remedy available to county governments at the moment is set out in Section 134(1) and (2) of the Public Finance Management Act which provides that- (1) If the County Appropriation Bill for a financial year has not been assented to, or is not likely to be assented to by the beginning of that financial year, a county assembly may authorise the withdrawal of money from the County Revenue Fund. (2) Money withdrawn under Subsection (1)— (a) may be used only for the purpose of meeting expenditure necessary to carry on the services of the county government during the financial year concerned until such time as the relevant appropriation law is passed; and, (b) May not exceed, in total, one-half of the amount included in the estimates of expenditure submitted to the county assembly for that year. Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir, however, the provisions of Section 134 of the Public Finance Management Act contemplate that the option of votes on account would arise where the Division of Revenue Bill and the County Allocation of Revenue Bill have been passed and, for whatever reason, a county assembly has not passed an Appropriation Bill. The section does not contemplate the present situation where the Division of Revenue Bill has not been passed and national revenue has not been divided between the two levels of Government. I emphasise that the national revenue has not been divided between the two levels of Government. 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."
}