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"id": 1018068,
"url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/1018068/?format=api",
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"type": "speech",
"speaker_name": "Emuhaya, ANC",
"speaker_title": "Hon. Omboko Milemba",
"speaker": {
"id": 13328,
"legal_name": "Jeremiah Omboko Milemba",
"slug": "jeremiah-omboko-milemba"
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"content": " Thank you, Hon. Deputy Speaker. Let me congratulate the Chairperson of the Special Funds Accounts Committee for this Report. The Report is a true reflection of what is happening everywhere in the country. It shows exactly the face of NG-CDF not only in the constituencies in Kiambu County, but also in the entire country. It speaks on things that we are also feeling from where we are even though it was a case study in Kiambu County. An example is lack of standardisation of projects, which we are facing in all parts of Kenya. The Report also speaks of the approvals which have had a challenge, especially where the locals decide on a project, but getting approval for the same becomes difficult. Many Members have spoken on this issue. What seems to have been prioritised should be respected because that is what the locals want. However, on standardisation, I would be quick to advise the Committee to look at it a little more. You may not ask the NG-CDF Board to come up with standardised projects about classrooms because standardisation of costs of construction of classrooms, from my background of teaching and trade unionism, is found in the Ministry of Education. They tried to come up with a standard cost for a classroom and even put some money on it, which is about Kshs1 million to Kshs1.2 million, but it never worked for them because of the variations that many Members have spoken about in terms of where the materials come from. I loved one of the Members who said that, for instance, a classroom in North Eastern Kenya, because of the climate there, is extremely different from a classroom elsewhere in this country. So, we can look at that standardisation from different perspectives in terms of size and quality, but not necessarily money. I spoke about police posts and the case study was Kiambu County. In this Report, again, I would tell the Chairperson that he considers the needs of Kiambu County. Needs of different areas are so different. In Kiambu, you noticed they were coming up with so many police posts because the issue of insecurity could have been historical in the area. However, if you were to go to the western region, you would find that their need for police posts would be less, and they would be asking for more schools. When you put this into consideration, we cannot completely blame the Kiambu team for investing much on security because this could be historical. Maybe, we should trace how we can link the NG-CDF bottom demand by the people with the central Government’s ability to supply those institutions with police officers to make them active. Possibly, that is exactly what they need, but when you go to the western region, you will hear a few people speaking about buses for schools. This Report speaks about cheques. In as much as I would support the idea of Electronic Funds Transfer to schools, I would ask the Chairperson that when they retreat back to the Committee, they need to understand how school management system works. When you send un- earmarked amount of money to schools, it does not clearly show the particular student to benefit from it. Therefore, this will beg for follow up, which is part of oversight from a parent to a school to ensure that the amount of money allocated to his or her child does not change from one person to another. I have this background and hope I will add value to this debate. It is very important. That is why cheques have been doing well. Of course, we cannot live in the reign of paper work forever. So, I thought I should speak on this aspect. Lastly, I wanted to speak on the aspect of youth. The NG-CDF has a very small per centum of the allocation to the youth, and it is mainly going to sports and other areas. If you look at the population of the country, youth are more. They are more creative and the education system is now using Competency Based Curriculum (CBC). So, there is talent search. We also have sports and 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."
}