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{
    "id": 1126318,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/1126318/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 174,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "Sen. Cheruiyot",
    "speaker_title": "",
    "speaker": {
        "id": 13165,
        "legal_name": "Aaron Kipkirui Cheruiyot",
        "slug": "aaron-cheruiyot"
    },
    "content": "There is an issue about the Universal Service Fund (USF). It is one of the issues that I referred to earlier because that is work that we began last term in this particular Committee. There was a big push and that is why I commend and can never buy the false reports that are sometimes sold out by prophets of doom about Senate and its place in this Republic. It was out of the work that was done by this House that the Communications Authority of Kenya began using the USF to roll out connectivity to some of the far flung areas in our country. We did that Report in the year 2016 that effected that. Before then, that money was just accruing in Communication Authority of Kenya. At the time when we did our report, the figure was somewhere close to Kshs20 billion that was just growing and was good wealth. We know what happens in this country if you have such an idle fund. By this time with a Government such as the one currently in power that money would have disappeared. Out of the push of the work that was done by this particular House, the Committee on ICT is now updating us on Phase Two of the project. We began Phase One of the last mile connectivity in 2016, but in Phase II of that Universal Service Fund Last Mile connectivity project, only 279 sub-locations have less than 50 per cent coverage. This is good and well informed. The reason why this becomes very important is that - I will marry this with the point raised by Sen. Wetangula - in terms of elections transmission, part of the contestations and complaints that are being raised is that, the number of polling stations do not have connectivity to be able to transmit results to the constituency, county and national tallying center."
}