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{
    "id": 957286,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/957286/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 721,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "Sen. Orengo",
    "speaker_title": "The Senate Minority Leader",
    "speaker": {
        "id": 129,
        "legal_name": "Aggrey James Orengo",
        "slug": "james-orengo"
    },
    "content": "the amount of work that we do for them. When we have passed the money, even getting to a governor‘s office becomes extremely difficult. You will see some big counties like Bungoma, Nairobi and Mombasa, which I cannot explain why they fail to get own source revenue, in order to enhance their allocation and that is why their allocations are going down, purely on that parameter. If you look at this report, that is consistent throughout the report, including my own county of Siaya. The Governor should wake up because he is persistently scoring very badly on this account and all other accounts. Secondly, although we are punishing counties because of these financial indicators and parameters, including own resource revenue generation, if you judge the national Government on the same parameters, they will perform very badly. In fact, they will not get even 60 per cent of what we give to them. They only compensate with that through borrowing, whenever there are revenue shortfalls, and you know, the counties cannot borrow as much as the national Government. They do that through grants and they get more grants than the county governments can ever get. Therefore, we should show and demonstrate this to the national Government; that the parameters we use against the counties, if those same parameters were used against the national Government, they would come out with a shortfall of revenue. I think there is some sense in what has been said before, that we need to work towards an amendment to make sure that if there is an increase of revenue, all the levels of government should benefit. It should not be on the last audited accounts, the previous year‘s accounts or Budget. It should be on the Budget for that particular year. I am persuaded by Sen. Wetangula who spoke before me, and Sen. Mutula Kilonzo Jnr., that we can come up with such amendments. As you know, we are alone. We have been looking for an oversight fund and, therefore, you can understand why people are against you getting those oversight funds. This is because you are the only House working effectively. In fact, I am one of the persons who are saying that we should have another amendment to the Constitution; that although we have a presidential system, the President once or twice a year should appear before the Senate or the National Assembly so that he can be asked some questions. For example, it is not good enough when the President himself says out there in the public and not through institutions of governance, that he has no money."
}