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            "id": 1504352,
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            "type": "speech",
            "speaker_name": "Narok West, UDA",
            "speaker_title": "Hon. Gabriel Tongoyo",
            "speaker": null,
            "content": " Okay."
        },
        {
            "id": 1504353,
            "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/1504353/?format=api",
            "text_counter": 264,
            "type": "speech",
            "speaker_name": "Hon. Speaker",
            "speaker_title": "",
            "speaker": null,
            "content": "The next Order had already been called out. Before Hon. Ndindi Nyoro moves the next Motion, I would like to tell the distinguished Member for Kiharu, all chairpersons of committees, and Members who have business on the Order Paper that once your business is on the Order Paper, you are not entitled to think that it will be reached at the time you desire. Your business can be reached at any time. So, I advise the Leader of the Majority Party to ensure that every Member with business on the Order Paper is in the Chamber because business can collapse or fail for whatever reason and we move to the next Order. With Hon. Ndindi, I have gone back to Order No.12 to accommodate him to move his Motion. Go ahead and do so now. The Order has already been called out. Give Hon. Ndindi the microphone."
        },
        {
            "id": 1504354,
            "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/1504354/?format=api",
            "text_counter": 265,
            "type": "heading",
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            "speaker": null,
            "content": "MOTION"
        },
        {
            "id": 1504355,
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            "text_counter": 266,
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            "speaker": null,
            "content": "APPROVAL OF THE MEDIATED VERSION OF THE DIVISION OF REVENUE (AMENDMENT) BILL (NATIONAL ASSEMBLY BILL NO.38 OF 2024)"
        },
        {
            "id": 1504356,
            "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/1504356/?format=api",
            "text_counter": 267,
            "type": "speech",
            "speaker_name": "Kiharu, UDA",
            "speaker_title": "Hon. Ndindi Nyoro",
            "speaker": null,
            "content": " Hon. Speaker, I beg to move the following Motion: THAT, pursuant to the provisions of Article 113(2) of the Constitution and Standing Order 150(3), this House adopts the Report of the Mediation Committee on the Division of Revenue (Amendment) Bill (National Assembly Bill No.38 of 2024), laid on the Table of the House on Monday, 25th November 2024, and approves the mediated version of the Division of Revenue (Amendment) Bill (National Assembly Bill No.38 of 2024). Hon. Speaker, I, first of all, wish to thank all the Members of the Mediation Committee, who spent long hours in trying to mediate this matter between the National Assembly and the Senate. I also wish to thank the Members of the Senate who attended the mediation sessions, led by the Co-Chair, Hon. Ali Roba. At the outset, when we met in the Mediation Committee, we agreed that we are all Members of Parliament in the National Assembly and the Senate, and that there was no tussle between our standpoints. It was just a matter of exchanging ideas, so that we come up with the optimal level in terms of the Division of Revenue Bill. As has been misconstrued before, we do not go for mediation because we are pulling in different sides. We meet because we are looking for the best option for the country. That is why even when the mediation sessions became very heated, we were able to conduct all the sessions with a lot of decorum, based on the fact that we were looking for the best figures for our counties, but also what the country could afford. The genesis of that process was when we passed the Budget in the middle of the year. What we usually call the Budget is the Appropriations Bill. We had already passed the Division of Revenue Bill. We need to align the Appropriations Bill, the Division of Revenue Bill, and the County Allocation of Revenue Bill. The predicament in the Mediation Committee was that these were unprecedented times. There has never been a situation where we meet to revise the"
        },
        {
            "id": 1504357,
            "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/1504357/?format=api",
            "text_counter": 268,
            "type": "speech",
            "speaker_name": "Kiharu, UDA",
            "speaker_title": "Hon. Ndindi Nyoro",
            "speaker": null,
            "content": "The electronic version of the Official Hansard Report is for information purposesonly. A certified version of this Report can be obtained from the Hansard Editor."
        },
        {
            "id": 1504358,
            "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/1504358/?format=api",
            "text_counter": 269,
            "type": "speech",
            "speaker_name": "Kiharu, UDA",
            "speaker_title": "Hon. Ndindi Nyoro",
            "speaker": null,
            "content": "Division of Revenue Bill downwards. Any time there has been any variation, it has always been an enhancement of the allocated amounts. Therefore, the first question where we had to scratch our heads to get the answer was on the process we would use to arrive at the figure we ended up arriving at. I say so because the Division of Revenue Bill has to be in tandem with the County Allocation of Revenue Bill. Currently, the President has already sent a memorandum on the County Allocation of Revenue Bill. Therefore, we need to pronounce ourselves on that. That needs a two-thirds majority in order to pass in both Houses – the National Assembly and the Senate. First, we had to find a pathway. Even before we talked about the contents of the Bill, we needed to be sure that after the conclusion of the Mediation Committee, the pathway would be anchored in law and the documents that we had already passed. To cut a long story short, in terms of the pathway, the Mediation Committee Report that we are passing today has a figure of Ksh387 billion. In the last financial year, the shareable revenue to our counties was around Ksh385 billion. After what happened in the country in June, we amended that figure and approved an allocation of Ksh380 billion. It appears as if the counties are getting Ksh410 billion in the current budget. That is because there were carryovers of Ksh30 billion. Therefore, the shareable revenue of Ksh380 billion plus the Ksh30 billion carryovers currently reflect in the budget of Ksh410 billion. I say this so that Members can also appreciate the figure that we have and the modalities around it. However, the version of the Bill that we are passing today reflects a figure of Ksh387 billion. I beseech the House to pass it. This figure differs from the earlier passed amount in the Supplementary Budget, which was Ksh380 billion. The County Allocation of Revenue Act (CARA), which we forwarded to the President, initially proposed Ksh400.1 billion but was returned with a memorandum. To overturn this memorandum, both the National Assembly and the Senate need to pass it with a two-thirds majority. I want the Members to understand that, even after here, there is another process to follow."
        },
        {
            "id": 1504359,
            "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/1504359/?format=api",
            "text_counter": 270,
            "type": "speech",
            "speaker_name": "Kiharu, UDA",
            "speaker_title": "Hon. Ndindi Nyoro",
            "speaker": null,
            "content": "In arriving at this figure, there are several amounts I would like to mention. The figure we had passed in the budget, in the Appropriations Bill was Ksh400.1 billion. The figure we ended up passing in Supplementary One is Ksh380 billion. The figure that the Senate requested we sustain is Ksh400.1 billion, but now, we have a figure of Ksh387 billion. This is an increase of approximately Ksh2 billion from the last financial year and an enhancement of Ksh7 billion from what was already passed in this House, which was Ksh380 billion. This figure is also higher than what is constitutionally required. Constitutionally, shareable revenue should constitute no less than 15 percent of the revenues from the last audited revenues. Hon. Speaker, as it stands now, we are allocating over 24 percent of the last audited revenues, which just goes to show that this House supports devolution, as our brothers and sisters in the Senate do as well. That is why, even when we met, there was no acrimony because we all knew that the money going to our counties is still going to serve the Kenyan people. The money going to our constituencies also serves the same Kenyan people. Therefore, there was no point in belaboring the issue of who supports and who does not support devolution. All of us in this House have shown, in the past and are showing now, that the National Assembly supports devolution. The Senate, too, in the Mediation Committee, was on the same page. There was no contestation; we all support devolution, and which is why we were able to conclude this issue in a very amicable manner. There was also another clause we had included in the initial report, which suggested that when there is a shortfall in revenue, both the national Government and the county governments should bear that shortfall in a manner that reflects their initial figures, what I would call proportionately. However, after deliberations, we noted something very consistent in this country: the National Treasury and Economic Planning sets revenue targets, but for the last ten years, we have never met our revenue targets even once. We decided in the Mediation"
        },
        {
            "id": 1504360,
            "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/1504360/?format=api",
            "text_counter": 271,
            "type": "speech",
            "speaker_name": "Kiharu, UDA",
            "speaker_title": "Hon. Ndindi Nyoro",
            "speaker": null,
            "content": "The electronic version of the Official Hansard Report is for information purposesonly. A certified version of this Report can be obtained from the Hansard Editor."
        },
        {
            "id": 1504361,
            "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/1504361/?format=api",
            "text_counter": 272,
            "type": "speech",
            "speaker_name": "Kiharu, UDA",
            "speaker_title": "Hon. Ndindi Nyoro",
            "speaker": null,
            "content": "Committee that, as we have been advising the National Treasury and Economic Planning, the revenue projections they provide need to be in tandem with reality, because there are ramifications on that. When you set an unrealistically high target and fail to meet it, what happens by the end of the year is that the debt grows, or many projects end up being unfunded by the lapse of the year on the 30th of June. For example, in the last financial year, the country was unable to fund projects worth Ksh218 billion, and the only carryovers were Ksh30 billion for counties, a small amount for the National Government Constituencies Development Fund (NG-CDF), and around Ksh60 billion for pensions. Developmental projects went unfunded by the lapse of the financial year. To make a credible budget, we need to set revenue targets that reflect reality. For that reason, the Mediation Committee deleted that clause that when there is a revenue shortfall, the people who set revenue are the National Treasury, which represents the national Government, and not the county governments. Therefore, in our report, we have decided that counties can no longer carry a burden they were not part of creating. Therefore, when there is a shortfall in revenue targets, it is only the national Government, as has always been the case, that should carry the entire burden. County governments should not bear this burden, as they are not the authors of these revenue targets. This approach also ensures that county assemblies do not pass budgets based on moving targets. When we give them figures that may change, we are essentially telling county assemblies to pass budgets that may not be fulfilled. That is why we have decided to delete that clause, so that in case of a revenue shortfall, the National Treasury, which sets these targets, will carry the burden on behalf of the national Government. The other thing that I want to highlight is that besides this Motion before us, there is another Mediation Committee meeting which will begin tomorrow, as there are discrepancies between the figures passed by this House and those passed by the Senate regarding conditional allocations to our counties. I urge this House to allow the next mediation to address the undercurrents. These matters are better handled then because it is the conditional grants that involve sectoral allocations, such as the Road Maintenance Levy Fund (RMLF). Therefore, the Division of Revenue we are discussing now has nothing to do with RMLF, and that will be addressed in the next report. I hope that by that time, we can engage in a debate on that matter, as it will be where it is domiciled."
        }
    ]
}