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"speaker_name": "Hon. Kingi",
"speaker_title": "The Speaker",
"speaker": null,
"content": " Senator for Nairobi City County, Sen. Sifuna, proceed."
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"id": 1483733,
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"id": 13599,
"legal_name": "Sifuna Edwin Watenya",
"slug": "sifuna-edwin-watenya"
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"content": "Mr. Speaker, Sir, I increasingly grow proud of our Standing Committee on Finance and Budget."
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"speaker": null,
"content": "(Applause)"
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"type": "speech",
"speaker_name": "Sen. Sifuna",
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"legal_name": "Sifuna Edwin Watenya",
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"content": "The Members need to keep calm because I do not think they will be very happy with what is about to come next. I was a bit worried at the beginning of the term of this Parliament that we had departed from our constitutional duty to be the protectors of counties and their governments as stipulated under Article 96 of the Constitution. Hon. Speaker, let me borrow the words of the Minority Whip that, in fact, this Senate must at every single opportunity stand up to protect devolution and devolved units. That every step that has been made in advancing the cause of devolution must be protected and no single step back must be allowed. I stand to support the Report that has come from the Committee that is ably chaired by Sen. Ali Roba. The National Assembly has tried to reduce a total of Kshs45 billion from the additional allocation to county governments in the amendments to this Bill. The hon. Senators who have spoken before me have spoken about the reduction in RMLF of Kshs10.5 billion. If you look at the totality of the reductions, there are some things that I am sure even Members of the National Assembly would not be able to justify. For instance, they have cut Kshs7.4 million from court fines. Some of our county governments run city courts to enforce local authority laws. This money is collected from the residents of those areas. For example, in Nairobi City, we have our own city court and there can be no justification for why that money should be retained at the national level. Mr. Speaker, Sir, the second one that has caught my eye is a reduction of Kshs1.1 billion on mineral royalties. This is something that is in the law that counties are entitled to a small percentage of the mineral wealth that is exploited in the areas and, therefore, this is something that we cannot support as a House. The most interesting one is the reduction of the allocation to county health promoters from Kshs3.2 billion to Kshs2.5 billion. This is a programme that was launched with much fanfare at Uhuru Park, by none other than the President. How will he explain, because as the Committee rightfully notes, the Kshs2.5 billion is only enough for 86,133 community health Promoters (CHPs) and we have a total of 107,831 of CHPs. What that tells you is that 22,000 CHPs will have no pay for the next financial year and this is something that we cannot countenance. This is a step that we had already taken and there are serious players in the attainment of universal health care and therefore, we cannot support this. The electronic version of the Senate Hansard Report is for information purposesonly. A certified version of this Report can be obtained from the Director, Hansard and AudioServices, Senate."
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"speaker_name": "Sen. Sifuna",
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"id": 13599,
"legal_name": "Sifuna Edwin Watenya",
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"content": "Mr. Speaker, Sir, on behalf of the CHPs of Nairobi, I will vote to oppose any reduction in the monies that was allocated for them. The Road Maintenance Levy Fund (RMLF) reduction of Kshs10.5 billion is, as the Committee rightfully notes, a contravention of the Constitution. This is because if under Schedule 4, a role is defined to be a county role, then it follows the constitutional principle requires that, that role be financed. For you to remove the entire RMLF allocation for county roles under Schedule 4 is a contravention of the Constitution. Mr. Speaker, Sir, in the Financial Year 2023/2024, counties had been allocated Kshs4.5 billion for industrial parks. Of course, they were launched with a lot of fanfare. I remember receiving a phone call from my mother in the village, that right across from her house, the President was there launching an industrial park and that she was going to have - in her own words - a place to sell her milk and chicken. For all that the counties were supposed to benefit from these industrial parks, they only received a total of Kshs1.12 billion, even despite the allocation of Kshs4.5 billion. So, counties that were expecting Kshs250 million for industrial parks received only Kshs62 million. Mr. Speaker, Sir, if you allow me, I have a photo on my phone that my mother sent me this afternoon of that site where the President launched with much fanfare, across from her house. Everything has stalled and there is no hope for either getting a market for her chicken or the milk."
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"speaker": null,
"content": "(Sen. Cheruiyot spoke off record)"
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"type": "speech",
"speaker_name": "Sen. Sifuna",
"speaker_title": "",
"speaker": {
"id": 13599,
"legal_name": "Sifuna Edwin Watenya",
"slug": "sifuna-edwin-watenya"
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"content": "Mr. Speaker, Sir, protect me from the Senate Majority Leader."
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"text_counter": 97,
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"speaker_title": "",
"speaker": null,
"content": "(Sen. Cherarkey spoke off record)"
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"type": "speech",
"speaker_name": "Hon. Kingi",
"speaker_title": "The Speaker",
"speaker": null,
"content": " Order. Senator for Nandi, allow hon. Sen. Sifuna to conclude"
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{
"id": 1483741,
"url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/1483741/?format=api",
"text_counter": 99,
"type": "speech",
"speaker_name": "Sen. Sifuna",
"speaker_title": "",
"speaker": {
"id": 13599,
"legal_name": "Sifuna Edwin Watenya",
"slug": "sifuna-edwin-watenya"
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"content": "Mr. Speaker, Sir, I am surprised the Senator for Nandi wants to insert himself in the communications between my mother and I. Therefore, we as a House must in totality take the position that there is absolutely no justification for these things. As I said even during the debate on the Division of Revenue, the practice has always been that any shortfall in revenue must be borne by the national Government. These programmes are critical and if you are going to tell 22,000 CHPs that they are no longer going to earn the Kshs5,000 they are supposed to earn, it is going to be something akin to a mountain to climb. How do you select the ones to earn and the ones not to earn, the ones to be cut from the programme and the ones to be retained? Therefore, I agree totally with the proposal that has come from the Committee on Budget and Finance, that we must reject in total any attempts to reduce the basket of devolution as has been proposed by the National Assembly. I thank you. The electronic version of the Senate Hansard Report is for information purposesonly. A certified version of this Report can be obtained from the Director, Hansard and AudioServices, Senate."
}
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