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{
    "id": 1193395,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/1193395/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 120,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "Laikipia East, TSP",
    "speaker_title": "Hon. Mwangi Kiunjuri",
    "speaker": null,
    "content": "willing to support the people at the grassroot level. We fought for the Bill which became law and the subsequent Parliament that followed enjoyed this privilege. Today, any time Kenyans hear that there is an amendment to the Constitution, they are always up in arms. But as you can feel the ground today, very little resistance is there when they hear that the NG-CDF needs to be anchored in the Constitution. Why is it so, Hon. Deputy Speaker? This is because Kenyans have directly enjoyed and benefitted from the NG-CDF. It is the only fund that a Kenyan can access easily because they can access their Member of Parliament. This fund touches the most-needy people in our constituencies and the country at large. Today, Members are facing very rough situations on the ground. Kenyans are so worried that this fund might be abolished. If you ask them today, they are not asking whether it will be scrapped off, but when they are going to benefit from the money that come to the constituencies. The country is already facing severe times. There is hunger and drought, and yet most of our students have been sent back home because their parents cannot afford to pay school fees. Therefore, it is incumbent on this House to ensure that we anchor this into law once and for all, so that decisions can be made without fear, and so that our people can enjoy this fund when it is well defined. It is touching on education and more of security. The best gift that we can give to our children is education. A very huge number of Kenyans cannot afford to educate their children. Today, we have long queues and requests from people who require bursaries. Equally, although we have the free primary education, the issue of the school feeding program has become a nightmare whereby Ksh4,000 that is required for every term in day schools is already a disaster. Our parents cannot afford to pay, and the feeding program is not even available for our students. Therefore, it is important to ensure that the parameters we are putting in place are not only discussing this fund, but whether we can make additional funds to support this program. The dignity of our people and the dignities of Members of Parliament must be protected. I remember when we could not support our people who came lining up every day in our houses requesting for medical support, but today, we can support that through the NG-CDF by paying for their National Health Insurance Fund (NHIF). On special needs, you look at the society and realise that the very needy ones can now afford to go for tertiary education. We are assisting our boda-boda riders by paying for their driving lessons to help them acquire driving licenses, which they could not afford and hence were harassed daily. We are supporting the Kenya Kwanza Government whose approach is bottom-up. The only fund that can get to our people and help the Government to implement its bottom-up strategy is the NG-CDF. At the end of the day, the funds have been with the people and can be accessed. At the same time, this fund has many beneficiaries and touches the lives of our people. Lastly, it is good for us to remember where we are coming from by recognising the people who initiated this program, namely, the likes of Hon. (Eng Muriuki Karue and the former President, the late Mwai Kibaki. With His Excellency the President, Hon. William Ruto, we will implement this program. The Members will finance their constituents and ensure that their wellbeing is taken care of. I support, Hon. Deputy Speaker."
}