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{
    "id": 957218,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/957218/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 653,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "Sen. Nyamunga",
    "speaker_title": "",
    "speaker": {
        "id": 738,
        "legal_name": "Rose Nyamunga Ogendo",
        "slug": "rose-nyamunga-ogendo"
    },
    "content": "Thank you, Mr. Deputy Speaker Sir, for giving me this opportunity. First of all, I want to take this opportunity to congratulate and also thank the County Assembly and the Members of the County Assembly of Kitui County. I had an opportunity to have a session from the Committee on Finance and Budget with our counterparts from the County Assembly of Kitui. We had a very good debate. They gave me a lot of courage about the type and calibre of people that are being elected in the county assemblies. It is very encouraging. Mine is just to say that we should support this Bill. Not that we want it, but it is because of the betterment of the people of Kenya. First of all, mine is so simple. If there is a couple or a husband and wife and one is relying or depending on the other, definitely, there will be a lot of noise in that home. My take has already been mentioned by Sen. Halake. I am bringing a Bill in Parliament, and this Bill must compel the county governments to think outside the box. The moment we are going to fight every year about the allocation that we are getting from the National Government, we are not going to move. At this rate where counties are pleading for money, we will not move. Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir, the most important thing that we can do, as leaders and for Kenyans, is to think outside the box. We must look for resources from other avenues. In my view, we must look at the natural resources that we have and develop them. I believe that every county is blessed with some form of resources. For example, in Kisumu County, we have Lake Victoria. What are the five counties doing about it? We have rice but what is the Kisumu County Government doing about it? What is Busia County doing about the rice paddies? Why are we begging under the whims of the national Government who think that the money is theirs? Look at the way they are doing the Estimates. Last year, the Estimates were Kshs1.6 trillion, but they managed to get only Kshs1.4 trillion. This year, they want to give us Estimates of Kshs1.9 trillion. If we are working with those same Estimates, they are crying foul that they cannot manage to collect such monies. So, it means we are cheating ourselves. Our budgeting process and everything else we are doing is not real. We are not being honest with Kenyans. We are only talking about corruption, which is at the national Government. Let the county governments look for their own money and streamline the way they collect the taxes. It is not good to keep taxing people, and yet we have resources. In my view, we must think outside the box and ensure we have enough resources for Kenyans."
}