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"id": 110711,
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"type": "speech",
"speaker_name": "Dr. Kosgei",
"speaker_title": "The Minister for Higher Education",
"speaker": {
"id": 13,
"legal_name": "Lucas Kipkosgei Chepkitony",
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"content": "When we speak about devolution we are, of course, seriously thinking not only of an imperial presidency, but we are also thinking of how we can get equity in distribution of the resources of this country. I know, for example, that when the KCPE results are released, we celebrate about how this student has done well; this is the top girl in the country and this is the top boy in the country, but we never ask ourselves one question: How is it that some regions cannot do as well as others? It is because if today you are in class seven or eight in Nairobi, you should be able to use a computer and go to the internet. If you look at a child somewhere in Wajir or Kilifi, you will find that they do not have those resources. Those schools have a lot of difficulties. Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir, some of us are trying very hard to build schools now. In some parts of this country, they no longer build schools because they have permanent classrooms. We cannot say that it was the Members who represented them who did not use the resources properly. It is simply who was closer to centre or who was closer to the power that was there at that time. It is for that reason that some of us feel quite strongly that in a devolved system, we must devolve resources in a manner that they do not get swallowed up through the bureaucracy. To avoid creating more bureaucracy, I suggest we use the system we have modified as suggested in the Draft by the Committee of Experts (CoE). That way we are no longer afraid that we will remain with a situation which is creating more bureaucracy and, therefore, reducing all the funds that we will take to the devolved Government to recurrent expenditure. We want to save those funds for development. We want to save those funds to improve our education system. We want to save those funds so that we have roads. There is no justification for some area like my constituency which has a productive climate not to get their food to the market because we do not have good roads. Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir, somewhere in the not too distant past, we got more districts. Today, there are districts which have no hospitals. I know that the Minister for Medical Services keeps talking about that in the House. He has been talking about resources. If we had devolved funds, we would try, as people in those areas, to use every other effort to boost those resources and have hospitals so that our children do not have to cover several miles to be treated for a disease as simple as malaria. Consider a woman who goes into labour in those areas with no hospital around. If there is a serious crisis, she will lose the baby or her life. This is one of the reasons we feel we should have devolved funds. If you believe that centralized funds are working, then we should ask ourselves what happened in the nearly 50 years that we have been independent and followed the system we have now? That requires us to change the way we do business. Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir, the ordinary Kenyans must have noticed this when they insisted and talked all the time about the need for a new Constitution. I hope that my colleagues here understand that people still believe that it is the politicians who are blocking the new Constitution. I do not think so and all of us should tell them that we would like to get a new Constitution. However, it should not be a Constitution for the Constitutionâs sake. We must have a Constitution that will make a difference in the way we govern and run this country. Thank you."
}