Entry Instance

HTTP 200 OK
Allow: GET, PUT, PATCH, DELETE, HEAD, OPTIONS
Content-Type: application/json
Vary: Accept

{
    "id": 926477,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/926477/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 174,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "Suba South, ODM",
    "speaker_title": "Hon. John Mbadi",
    "speaker": {
        "id": 110,
        "legal_name": "John Mbadi Ng'ong'o",
        "slug": "john-mbadi"
    },
    "content": "National Treasury had not released that amount. An amount of Kshs51 billion was sitting as cash balances in the counties, either in the revenue account, recurrent account or development account. Hon. Speaker, to have Kshs51 billion in the county accounts, unused by the end of the financial year has the effect of slowing down economic growth of a country. I know a lot of answers have been given. A lot of explanation which I call “excuses” has been used. It has been said that probably the Integrated Financial Management and Information System (IFMIS) does not work sometimes and the National Treasury takes time to release money. That could be true, but why can the Senate not deal with that as a problem before asking for more money? What is the essence of allocating Kshs400 billion, Kshs500 billion if only Kshs200 billion will be released to the counties? It does not make sense. To me, if the Senate wants to protect counties, the first point of call is to ensure that the money that we have allocated and put in the Budget goes to the counties so that they use it to provide services. A county like Nakuru, by the end of the financial year had in its account Kshs3.9 billion unutilised, an amount that should be used to provide services to the people of Nakuru. Then, you are telling me the reason the people of Nakuru are not able to get services is because they were not given enough money. Enough money how and Kshs3.9 billion is still sitting in their account for whatever reason, whether the money was transferred late or not? What was the reason for transferring it late? A county like Siaya has Kshs1.69 billion. A county like Homa Bay where Mbadi comes from had Kshs1.168 billion. A county like Kiambu where the Chairman of the Budget and Appropriations Committee (BAC) comes from had Kshs1.68 billion. Finally, a county like Kakamega where the Chairman of the Council of Governors (CoG) comes form had Kshs978 million. The question I am raising is: Why is it that money that has been budgeted for cannot reach the counties? If it reaches them, it stays in their accounts unspent. This reasoning that is being given that probably the problem is IFMIS, the problem is the National Treasury not releasing funds is not entirely true. I think there is a problem of capacity in the counties. How do you compare that to Tharaka Nithi County which has only Kshs28 million? How come the IFMIS was working and not working for Nakuru County? There is Kshs66 million in the account of Mombasa County. How come the IFMIS was working for Mombasa County? The Treasury was able to release money in good time for them to utilise yet the same was not released to Nairobi County? Yesterday, I had a heated argument with three Senators who are my friends and they come from my party. We were wondering why the chairman is not fighting for more money to go to the counties. I told them they are the ones who want to kill the counties. The moment the public knows that a lot of money is going to the counties and they are not seeing services, they will call for scrapping of the counties. That is how counties will be killed. In fact, we hear people talk about the health function being brought back to the national Government. The reason is because citizens who are supposed to get health services are not receiving them. Hon. Speaker, you will agree with me that in the year 2013, the National Government Constituencies Development Fund (NG-CDF) was unpopular in this country. In fact, almost everyone was under siege. Everybody was calling for scrapping of the NG-CDF. Today, a debate was conducted in one of the vernacular radio stations, I listen a lot to vernacular radio stations. If there is any money that is very popular in this country, today, it is NG-CDF. No one wants it to go away. In fact, the Ekuru Aukot's Punguza Mizigo Bill has problems because of the NG-CDF more than anything else. The reason is that counties have made NG-CDF popular. The public is 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."
}