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{
    "id": 956979,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/956979/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 414,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "Sen. Olekina",
    "speaker_title": "",
    "speaker": {
        "id": 407,
        "legal_name": "Ledama Olekina",
        "slug": "ledama-olekina"
    },
    "content": "constituting constitutional bodies yet when they give recommendations we do not give a hoot in hell about them. Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir, counties have received about Kshs50 billion. That is the information that we received today. I hope that the recommendation which was made by this Committee - which has done a very fantastic job - is that the National Treasury will release the entire first quota allocation into the counties. My message is to the governors. This House fought day and night and worked hard to ensure that you are at least able to get money. There are so many stalled projects. It would be wrong for counties to continue having bloated budgets that they cannot fund. My plea to the governors is to have realistic budgets. The first charge on your budgets should be on pending bills. There is no reason as to why counties should have pending bills yet you have budgeted for programmes. Do not budget for what you do not have. You have very little money and you should use wisely the money which is allocated to you. Let us give services to the people. On the conditional grants, one of my biggest pet peeves is the issue of the medical equipment scheme. It wrong as a governor for you to sit out there and allow the National Government or the Executive to control you and say that you have this memorandum and they are carrying out a function which you are responsible for constitutionally, yet you do not know what has been spend out in terms of leasing. I want to appeal to the CoG to go and relook at that memorandum. Look at this money which is being spent on your behalf by the National Government. Ask yourselves whether you really want them to use it. When we went to Samburu County, we found that a lot of that medical equipment was still in there in nice boxes. They were not being used. It is imperative that we carry out an audit and find out whether we really need this equipment. You will find a CT scan machine in Samburu and yet there is no three-phase electricity. Kenyans are paying for nothing. It is imperative that as county governments are receiving this money, whatever is advanced and is being expended by the National Government, county governments should hire auditors to go through it. Finally, on the issue of ceilings to county assemblies, let us be realistic. There is very little money. I have seen that a lot of counties submitted their requests for their ceilings to be increased yet the money allocated is very little. It is about time now that county governments should come up with better ways of raising own-source revenue and better ways coming up with budgets. It was ridiculous for county governments to come up with budgets yet we had not even divided the money."
}