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{
    "id": 920642,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/920642/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 250,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "Sen. Halake",
    "speaker_title": "",
    "speaker": {
        "id": 13184,
        "legal_name": "Abshiro Soka Halake",
        "slug": "abshiro-soka-halake"
    },
    "content": "the revenue collection systems were acquired at high prices and that many of the contracts on revenue sharing between the county governments and the service providers work to the disadvantage of the county governments. Therefore, as the ICT Committee, this is under our radar as well. In that regard, we thank Sen. (DR.) Zani for bringing this to the Floor of the House in the form of amendments to the Public Finance Management (PFM) Act. Madam Temporary Speaker, the Committee is also in the process of exploring various measures on how to improve revenue collection and management system in county governments in order to curb leakages and improve accountability through the use of efficient technology. The Committee has also been closely following up on the provision of universal coverage of 2G network as I mentioned earlier, across the country. To this end, the Committee has met with the Cabinet Secretary for ICT and the leadership of the Communications Authority of Kenya (CA) who outlined to us the measures they are implementing to ensure universal 2G network coverage is achieved across Kenya. Madam Temporary Speaker, we are happy to report that the Universal Service Fund has been rolled out to help connect areas with no mobile signal coverage for data transmission. However, as I mentioned, this is work in progress that the Committee has picked as its area of priority. You will see that going forward, we will be monitoring the progress very closely. The Committee is also monitoring the implementation of the Digital Literacy Program which is the Laptops Project, which has just concluded its first phase of implementation. The Committee attended a workshop in Uasin Gishu County between 8th and 10th May, 2019, that was organized by the implementing agency and the ICT Authority and also conducted visits to various schools to observe firsthand the implementation of this program. The Committee noted with concern the discrepancies between reports on the implementation of the program and the situation on the ground where the Committee witnessed instances of faulty digital learning devices and children without access to the devices. This is an issue whereby we saw a big disparity. The Senate Committee on Education led by Sen. (Dr.) Langat was also present at this, so it was a joint attendance whereby we went and saw certain discrepancies and this is something that both the Committees are looking at, going forward. Looking forward, the Committee intends to carry out the following key activities in the next quarter; we intend to meet with all our sectorial State agencies to align and discuss priority areas for the Financial Year 2019/2020. We also intend to conduct a Regional Capacity Building Workshop with six coastal counties. We also intend to hold consultative meetings with the national Treasury, Council of Governors and the Commission on Revenue Allocation on ways to improve revenue management as earlier alluded to, and conduct visits to schools in various counties in the western region to oversight the implementation of the Digital Literacy Program and meet with the CA on the National Addressing System. This is something that we have been looking into as well as looking at all our broadcasting companies, especially the Kenya Broadcasting Corporation (KBC) and 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."
}