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{
    "id": 1191002,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/1191002/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 3991,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "Molo, UDA",
    "speaker_title": "Hon. Kuria Kimani",
    "speaker": null,
    "content": "Committee on Finance and National Planning, I can say there is light at the end of the tunnel. The reason the NG-CDF money has not been disbursed is the Supreme Court ruling. The National Treasury sought direction from the Office of the Attorney-General. I want to inform the House that the Departmental Committee on Finance and National Planning will fast-track the response by the Attorney-General, so that the funds can be disbursed to the constituencies for work to begin. In Molo Constituency, for example, we transformed our schools by making sure that 90 per cent of the day schools have equipped science laboratories. It would have been a mirage to achieve that without this Fund. You cannot compare it with the money that is disbursed through the Ministry of Education to our schools for infrastructure development. The funds are not utilised properly. The cost of projects done using them is almost double the cost of a project done using money from the NG-CDF. You will construct a class in a primary school and the county government will, say, “We will construct an ECD class”. However, if you compare the quality of the two constructions, you will realise that the difference is like heaven and earth! You will also notice that counties will spend double the amount of money spent by the NG-CDF. This shows how important this Fund is and the value for money it gives us in addition to its contribution to economic development. When the constructions are going on in the constituencies, our local contractors get cement from the nearest hardwares. They get sand and building stones from the nearest quarries. The money, therefore, finds its way back to the pockets of wananchi through provision of such services. We urge the National Treasury, on the issue of pending bills, to pay any arrears that have not been disbursed to our constituencies. There were commitments made. Unlike other Government projects, before the NG-CDF projects are approved, they go for public participation. We normally outline the projects we want to do and make commitments to, say, the schools and other places where the projects are to be done. When the money is not disbursed, it means that the promises are not kept! We end up with more pending bills. Kenyans are 100 per cent sure that if an NG-CDF project has been ear marked to be done, it will be done. Even people who have been given the task to do that work are 100 per cent sure that they will be paid when the work is completed. This Parliament has firmly pronounced itself on the issue of pending bills. The issue of delaying disbursement of the funds, therefore, seems to depict us like all the other Government agencies whose projects delay in terms of implementation and even payments. With that, I support."
}