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{
    "id": 1157841,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/1157841/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 221,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "Tigania West, JP",
    "speaker_title": "Hon. John Mutunga",
    "speaker": {
        "id": 13495,
        "legal_name": "John Kanyuithia Mutunga",
        "slug": "john-kanyuithia-mutunga"
    },
    "content": "which sometimes is in the form of grants. If the commitment was adhered to, we would have a lot of money. As fortunes and the global economy changes, the allocation has been decreasing. Therefore, the level of commitment has not been as it was post-1945 after the World War II. This Bill guides the process through which we should allocate money to counties. There are many projects in this country which need a bit of guidance. Most of these projects are directly under county governments. The reason is that most donors would prefer working directly with beneficiaries. And in most cases, you realise that beneficiaries are at the local level. Therefore, there is need for a mechanism to have the provided resources reach the beneficiaries. The list of the projects in this particular arrangement mainly fall under the productive sectors. The productive sectors negotiate directly with donors to get grants and loans. When they get this money, they majorly use it for development purposes. The Bill guides the process. For this financial year, the guidelines have been given carefully listed. As per the mediation report, the guidelines are sound and credible in terms of how the money is going to be disbursed to different county governments. One thing I would like to bring to the attention of Members of Parliament is that over time, there has not been participation by Members of Parliament (MPs) in determining priority of what is supposed to be done with donor funds at the county level. In most cases, MPs are avoided. This is because the funds go directly to counties. We are not part and parcel of the process of choosing priority projects. There should be a provision in this legislation that allows us to participate or partner in these development projects. It is an issue that needs to be debated in this House. The money is from the national Government and does not necessarily belong to county governments. It is recognised as such because of the demands of donors. They demand that their money is sent directly from mother ministries to beneficiaries. The Bill also outlines the processes that are supposed to be used to guide the management of these resources. You realise that a Ministry like that of Agriculture, which does not have a lot of allocation in the national Budget, has a lot of projects funded directly by donors. It is important for us to realise that some of the functions of the Ministry are key, and they need to be funded by the Exchequer. I have in mind a function like research for development. Donors may not fund research for your own kind of thought-through development. Donors fund research that contribute to their initiatives within a country. It is, therefore, very important for us to fund our research centres with money from the Exchequer. But you realise that the situation in Kenya is that most of research work is funded by donors. This is always within the provisions of the project document. During project designs, some of these things are articulated and, therefore, are captured as such. I would like to propose that the Government should look at that fundamental area so that we can conduct research for development based on our own perception and understanding of development, and not necessarily rely on donor-based research for development, which is problematic in approach, and limited in scope in terms of developing the country. Hon. Speaker, I support adoption of the Report."
}