{"count":1608389,"next":"http://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/?format=json&page=138962","previous":"http://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/?format=json&page=138960","results":[{"id":1406021,"url":"http://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/1406021/?format=json","text_counter":349,"type":"speech","speaker_name":"Sen. Wambua","speaker_title":"","speaker":{"id":13199,"legal_name":"Enoch Kiio Wambua","slug":"enoch-kiio-wambua"},"content":"What is happening is that public money is being released to strangers in office. Those people who are now exercising the authority to incur expenditure in the County Government of Garissa have no locus standi and they are not recognized by law. Therefore, whatever expenditure is taking place in the County Government of Garissa, is illegal. Mr. Temporary Speaker, Sir, you know the County Governments Act does not suggest or provide guidelines to county governors on how to constitute governments. The County Governments Act prescribes a method of how legitimate county governments and county executives are constituted. Without spending too much time, I would suggest that after the visit by the Committee on Devolution and Intergovernmental Relations, I hope they will take up this challenge, we to call the COB to explain to this House how money has been released to the County Government of Garissa, since 2022 August to date, when there are no chief officers in that county government. Lastly, I have confirmed with you and I feel a bit ashamed that this Governor of Garissa is an Azimio Governor. It is a big shame that a governor had initially been rejected by the people between 2017 and 2022 and had to be returned to office by the people of Garissa. He is now behaving as though Garissa County is a personal kiosk. 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."},{"id":1406022,"url":"http://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/1406022/?format=json","text_counter":350,"type":"speech","speaker_name":"Sen. Wambua","speaker_title":"","speaker":{"id":13199,"legal_name":"Enoch Kiio Wambua","slug":"enoch-kiio-wambua"},"content":"Mr. Temporary Speaker, Sir, it is a big shame to that governor. Let us see action taken against him. I thank you."},{"id":1406023,"url":"http://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/1406023/?format=json","text_counter":351,"type":"speech","speaker_name":"Sen. Mandago","speaker_title":"","speaker":{"id":13577,"legal_name":"Kiplagat Jackson Mandago","slug":"kiplagat-jackson-mandago"},"content":"Thank you very much, Mr. Temporary Speaker, Sir. I rise to comment on the two Statements by the Senator for Garissa who is now the Chair. On the matter of appointment of chief officers, I not only take it that the governor is lax in his duties, but also the County Assembly of Garissa should be called out for allowing such blatant defiance of the law by the governor. This is by approving the budget consistently for all those years knowing very well that there are no substantive chief officers who have been appointed to those positions. I am even wondering, how the county development plans are being approved. How are the annual development programmes being approved if the officers are not substantive in office? Mr. Temporary Speaker, Sir, this is a matter that this House and the Committee must take seriously. We request the Committee for Devolution and Intergovernmental Relations, to write to the CoB immediately, to hold releases to the County Government of Garissa pending the visit and investigation on how these funds that have been sent without the proper officers in office have been utilized. It is not possible to have all the chief officers acting. In county governments, unless for some reason a chief officer has resigned immediately and somebody else is needed, a chief officer will then be appointed to act on the other docket. The Governor for Garissa is a let-down to the devolution family. He should be called off being an experienced governor who has served for one term. He should know better to ensure that the officers are vetted by the County Assembly. However, the County Assembly can never go scot-free. The county assembly is probably in bed with the governor and that is the reason why they have allowed this to go on for all those years. Mr. Temporary Speaker, Sir, I wish to support the Statement sought on health. Of particular concern is the high reported cases of maternal mortality. Maternal mortality is a matter of national interest. This is because it serves to show the indicators of the country in terms of determining how many children can live beyond five years. Whenever we see a county that has high cases of maternal mortality, it could be of interest to know whether they have a sufficient workforce and whether their maternities are working. We would also want to find out whether they have gotten their reimbursements for the National Health Insurance Fund (NHIF) to ascertain why we have that kind of high mortality rate. This is an area where the Kenya Medical Practitioners Pharmacists and Dentists Union (KMPDU), and the Ministry of Health should take keen interest because this affects the national performance. Mr. Temporary Speaker, Sir, on equipment; this is a matter that has been discussed and debated in this House. Therefore, the national Government through the Ministry of Health must have a good discussion and plan on all the programmes that they intend to support the counties with to ensure success. 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."},{"id":1406024,"url":"http://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/1406024/?format=json","text_counter":352,"type":"speech","speaker_name":"Sen. Mandago","speaker_title":"","speaker":{"id":13577,"legal_name":"Kiplagat Jackson Mandago","slug":"kiplagat-jackson-mandago"},"content":"Mr. Temporary Speaker, Sir, I wish to submit and support the two statements. I thank you."},{"id":1406025,"url":"http://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/1406025/?format=json","text_counter":353,"type":"speech","speaker_name":"Sen. Abdul Haji","speaker_title":"The Temporary Speaker","speaker":null,"content":" Thank you very much, Senators. Hon. Senators, we have exceeded the time for contribution to the Statements. I will have to stop it there and call the next Order. Proceed, the Senate Majority Leader."},{"id":1406026,"url":"http://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/1406026/?format=json","text_counter":354,"type":"heading","speaker_name":"","speaker_title":"","speaker":null,"content":"BILL"},{"id":1406027,"url":"http://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/1406027/?format=json","text_counter":355,"type":"scene","speaker_name":"","speaker_title":"","speaker":null,"content":"Second Reading"},{"id":1406028,"url":"http://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/1406028/?format=json","text_counter":356,"type":"heading","speaker_name":"","speaker_title":"","speaker":null,"content":"THE DIVISION OF REVENUE BILL (NATIONAL ASSEMBLY BILL NO.14 OF 2024)"},{"id":1406029,"url":"http://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/1406029/?format=json","text_counter":357,"type":"speech","speaker_name":"Sen. Cheruiyot","speaker_title":"The Senate Majority Leader","speaker":{"id":13165,"legal_name":"Aaron Kipkirui Cheruiyot","slug":"aaron-cheruiyot"},"content":" Mr. Temporary Speaker, Sir, I beg to move: THAT, the Division of Revenue Bill (National Assembly Bill No.14 of 2024), be now read a Second Time. Mr. Temporary Speaker, Sir, this is an extremely important Bill. One of the cardinal responsibilities of this House of Parliament is to participate very strongly in the division of revenue raised nationally, between the county and the national Government. Over the years, the role of the Senate in this particular exercise has been affirmed to many doubting foes and friends alike by courts of law and the established practices around the globe on the need for the Senate of the Republic of Kenya to make its voice heard on behalf of the county governments. It is a journey that has been fairly interesting. In my days as a Member of that Committee, we tried to always conclude this legislation long before the statutory deadline for budget estimates in the National Assembly, which is 30th of April. Unfortunately, over time, there has been occasions such as what will happen and I will be delving into this later. The Budget and Finance Committee will have to tell us why this is so. Mr. Temporary Speaker, Sir, where we hold views contrary to what our colleagues in the National Assembly do on how much revenue should be disbursed to the counties, it neccesitate a mediation exercise. You know very well that mediation is never easy, especially mediation on Division of Revenue Bill. I do not want to anticipate a debate, but it is what I foresee in this Bill as proposed. This Bill was published on the 8th, March, 2024. It was passed by the National Assembly on the 20th March, 2024, and referred to the Senate for consideration as required by Article 218 of the Constitution of Kenya. The purpose is the vertical sharing of revenue between the two levels of Government. This Bill was read a first time on the 27th March, 2024, which is a few weeks ago. Pursuant to Standing Order No.145, it was committed to our very hard-working Committee on Finance and Budget, which facilitated public participation and all these things that we need to do. 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."},{"id":1406030,"url":"http://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/1406030/?format=json","text_counter":358,"type":"speech","speaker_name":"Sen. Cheruiyot","speaker_title":"The Senate Majority Leader","speaker":{"id":13165,"legal_name":"Aaron Kipkirui Cheruiyot","slug":"aaron-cheruiyot"},"content":"The Division of Revenue Bill, in accordance to Article 203 of the Constitution, demands that we have at least 15 per cent of the most recently audited accounts approved by the National Assembly. There has been conversations around how to increase this, the latest one being in the National Dialogue Committee (NADCO) exercise that yours truly participated in, which raised this to 20 per cent. That Bill is still before our Justice, Legal Affairs and Human Rights Committee. I do not see the Chairperson of that Committee. They would have updated us how far they are with that clause. The projected revenue for the Financial Year 2024/2025, which is the next financial year, is Kshs2.948 trillion. I do not need to repeat my comments on budgeting in the pie, which is a budgeting practice of having a pie in the sky and projecting a revenue that you know very well the chances of hitting it, are very remote. Nonetheless, that being the case, we will still have that conversation. One of the challenges that we have out of these projections is that the National Treasury continues to struggle even on the figure that they devote to the counties. This is because disbursement of these resources is a challenge since we have projected figures that are over and above that which we can raise. Therefore, throughout the financial year, you are delayed in your disbursements and that affects the operations in our various county governments. In the Bill, it is proposed at Kshs391.7 billion, which represents 13.3 per cent of the total revenue. The proposed county government's equitable share is 24.9 per cent of the most recent audited accounts, which is 2020/2021. I must congratulate the National Assembly. Previously, it used to take a bit longer. There were times when we would do division of revenue with audited statements of about five or six years behind. However, as it is today, there are only two financial years away. That is very good industry on the side of the National Assembly. We must celebrate them for that. The county equitable share being proposed is to increase by 1.5 per cent from the baseline of Kshs385 billion. Remember the conversation about Kshs385 billion and what has been said about that. I wish colleagues will take time to listen and follow through this debate, because this is a conversation that you have throughout the financial year. Your citizens will be asking how we arrived at this figure, what was your voice was and whether you agreed with the figure that was proposed or what your thoughts about it were. Mr. Temporary Speaker, Sir, if there is a Bill that Members need to take time to listen, understand and appreciate, it is the Annual Division of Revenue Bill. Further, this Bill provides for an allocation to the Equalization Fund for Financial Year 2024/2025 of Kshs7.8 billion, which is 0.5 per cent of the constitutional set threshold in the Financial Year 2020/2021 as per Article 204 of our Constitution. It is worth noting that during the consideration of 2024 Budget Policy Statement (BPS) approved by this House, the Senate made some key financial recommendations with regard to the Division of Revenue. Notably, the Senate recommended an allocation of Kshs415.9 billion as equitable share to the county governments for Financial Year 2024/2025 based on the following- (1) An adjustment by 6.4 per cent of annual growth factor. 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."}]}