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{
    "id": 1158785,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/1158785/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 25,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "Sen. Halake",
    "speaker_title": "",
    "speaker": {
        "id": 13184,
        "legal_name": "Abshiro Soka Halake",
        "slug": "abshiro-soka-halake"
    },
    "content": "Mr. Speaker, Sir, thank you for protecting me. The Universal Service Fund was designed for hard-to-reach infrastructure. In places like Isiolo County, even the basic 2G network does not cover many places. Places like Gotu, Leparwa, Komu, parts of Odlonyiro and other parts that are very close to Isiolo Town itself beyond just a radius of 100 kilometers. We do not have even the basic 2G. As the Machakos County Assembly goes about their benchmarking on an e- Parliament, I encourage them to also look at accountability and primary oversight of the Universal Service Fund. The Committee on ICT of the Senate will make sure that before the end of the life of this Parliament, the places that have not been reached by even by the basic 2G are reached, given the fact that this is a year of elections. We will ensure that those places are covered to the ground that is available. There are also school projects that they need to look at. School projects such as the computer programme for schools is also part of the project that should have been covered by the Universal Service Fund. This fund is administered by the Communications Authority (CA). At the local level, the primary oversight should also look at these things and ensure that the issues that are facing the citizens are also looked at even as we benchmark for an e-Parliament and other things that are going to be for Parliament. Mr. Speaker, Sir, ICT is going to be the backbone of our democratic governance. The efficiency with which our elections are going to be conducted is going to be determined by the access and quality of the ICT infrastructure and backbone that we have. Places like Isiolo County should not be disadvantaged because there is no basic infrastructure for communication in place ahead of the elections. Our Committee is looking at all the things that I have mentioned. These are things that we are going to be holding our Executive to account. However, I urge the people of Machakos, who are here today to benchmark, to also look at these things as well and help us because you are our ears and eyes on the ground."
}