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"id": 926446,
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"type": "speech",
"speaker_name": "Kikuyu, JP",
"speaker_title": "Hon. Kimani Ichung’wah",
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"id": 1835,
"legal_name": "Anthony Kimani Ichung'Wah",
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"content": "year of 2019/2020. They speak about figures well about Kshs200 billion as if it is money that has already been collected. It is important for the CRA to appreciate that as much as the KRA will give us their revenue projections, reality is that we never realise that revenue as projected. Therefore, as much as we are projecting to collect Kshs1.877 trillion, what we have seen in the past... Hon. Speaker, the last financial year you will bear me witness that we had a supplementary budget weeks after we passed the Finance Bill because of realities that we would not have achieved the revenue projections. Remember for the austerity measures that were carried out in the national Government, the same as provided for by Article 219 of the Constitution, you cannot vary what you provide for in this Division of Revenue Bill. I would like to ask our colleagues in the Senate, if there is any amendment that they may want to consider in this Bill, probably amend one of the clauses or add a new clause saying that, maybe, if there is an improvement in revenue collection as the year progresses, any additional revenue generated over and above the projections after the first half of the year, should all go to our county governments. When the austerity measures were undertaken, we never asked them. You remember last year, there was an attempt by the National Treasury to reduce the sharable revenue from Kshs314 billion by Kshs9 billion to Kshs305 billion, but we could not do it because they are protected under Article 219 of the Constitution. I just want to beg them and ask the CRA, our good Senators and our Council of Governors to bear with the situation as it is. They should be alive to the reality of our revenues as a country and as the economy improves, we will be amiable later during a supplementary budget to allocate more resources should they be there. Since we cannot reduce what we give them, I think it is only good to be realistic with what we have. Let me move to the recommendations of the Committee. We are recommending that we approve this Bill as follows: As I said, on the national Government, including additional allocations to counties of Kshs13.91 billion, being financed from revenues raised nationally and also constitutional commissions on repayment of debt, let this figure of 1.561 trillion not be seen as if it is money that is just going to the national Government, Ministries and agencies. The Judiciary, Parliament and constitutional commissions will share it. On the Equalisation Fund, we are seeking an approval of Kshs5.76 billion and for county allocations, the sharable revenue of Kshs316.5 billion. We have said as a Committee that should there be any increase to counties over and above what is being proposed in this Bill, it has to be accompanied by a specific reduction in the Judiciary, in Parliament, various Ministries, departments or agencies of Government or clear and quantifiable revenue measures. Therefore, I beg that even as we proceed, should anybody have the thought of amending anything in this Bill, he should either give us clear and quantifiable revenue-raising measures that we will generate the revenues that we want to increase or give us specific areas in the budgets of the Judiciary, Parliament – which includes the Senate – or in the Ministries, departments and agencies of Government which will specifically reduce to be equal to any proposed increments. I am saying this because the Kshs316.5 billion is what realistically can be accommodated within our fiscal framework without necessarily distorting the fiscal deficit as we agreed and was resolved, passed and adopted by this House during the Budget Policy Statement (BPS). Therefore, the Kshs316.5 billion will leave us within the fiscal deficit that we agreed on in our BPS Report that was adopted by this House and also by the Senate. I know they deliberated on The electronic version of the Official Hansard Report is for information purposes only. Acertified version of this Report can be obtained from the Hansard Editor."
}