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{
    "id": 105820,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/105820/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 349,
    "type": "other",
    "speaker_name": "",
    "speaker_title": "",
    "speaker": null,
    "content": "This financial year, I have been writing down how many projects the Minister for Finance is supposed to raise funds for. Today, we are very happy with the Treasury. I am saying this because with the rising drought in this country, people need relief food. Wananchi are still receiving relief food and the Treasury pays for it. The only thing is that the relief food does not come regularly. Mine is to ask the Minister for Finance to make sure that those areas where relief food is not supplied adequately, more money should be saved to buy relief food for those people. We do not want Kenyans to go hungry. When we pushed the last regime to introduce the Constituencies Development Fund (CDF), it totally said “no” and at that time, our President was the Official Leader of the Opposition. But when Mr. Kibaki took over as the President, we opposed him again and we said: You were the Official Leader of Opposition. Today you are in power and we are coming back with the same problem of the CDF. He did not hesitate to approve the CDF. The CDF today has improved many areas of this country in terms of education and health delivery and so many other things. I can see that there are two commissions; the IIEC and the other is the Interim Independent Boundaries Commission (IIBRC). Both these services need to be under the Electoral Commission. Today, the Minister for Finance is really meeting his obligations by funding these two institutions. There is no problem. With the coming up of the economic stimulus projects, you can see that nobody is complaining. I read just last week that the Minister had disbursed 50 per cent of funds allocated to the stimulus projects. We are quite certain that the other half will be disbursed in the coming financial year. So, if you go through, you see the burden that the Ministry of Finance is taking by funding free primary education, feeding programmes in the schools, disbursing bursary funds and CDF funds---. That is a very heavy bill and there is need to support and approve this Motion. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, I remember there were days when the Treasury failed to pay salaries for civil servants. Those days are now gone. Today, we do not hear those complaints. There were days that even hon. Members had to wait for their pay packages for ten days after the month end. Today, that is no longer there. To me, this is none other than the efficiency of the Minister for Finance and I congratulate him. I would like to say that the problem of ferries in Mombasa has been the talk of Mombasa. People at the grassroots level do not know what is happening with the buying of the new ferries. The Minister for Finance, maybe, in liaison with the Minister for Transport, should come up with concrete information to give to the people when they are going to buy new ferries to enable the people at Likoni cross the channel. That has been a big problem and I am saying that it is my prayer that disasters do not occur. We want the new ferries in that place. Finally, I would like to say that the Minister is now preparing himself to finance the Referendum. People always talk about getting money from outside. That a certain donor or country will bring money. But you need to have an able Minister for Finance to organize the success of the forthcoming Referendum. I really praise the Minister and his officers in the Ministry. With those few remarks, I beg to support."
}