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{
    "id": 1193398,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/1193398/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 123,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "Gilgil, UDA",
    "speaker_title": "Hon. Martha Wangari",
    "speaker": null,
    "content": "having it in the Constitution so that whoever is sitting at the chair of legislation of either the Executive or the Judiciary does not have the power to take it away from the people. As my colleagues have said, if you go to many places around the country, especially in the rural constituencies, you will realise that the only visible fund on the ground is the NG-CDF. We have enough things we can stand up and talk about it. We are in the third county government since the onset of devolution in this country but you cannot compare the work that the NG- CDF has done in the last few years with the work that the county governments have done with the billions of shillings that have gone to them so far. I support this idea and laud this House. Under Standing Order 114 (7A) we have a window to ventilate on a proposal to amend the Constitution. It is also a form of public participation. When you have a legislative proposal to amend the Constitution, you can bring it to the Floor of the House and the Speaker may allow Members to comment on it. The nature of the law that governs constitutional Bills is such that you cannot amend a comma or full stop when that Bill comes to the Floor of this House. What that means is that we will talk on a constitutional amendment Bill and at the end of the day we will either pass it the way it is or we lose it all together. So, this window not only gives the issues to the public but it also serves as public participation. More importantly, it helps to enrich the law. I am sure the drafters of this proposal are taking notes. After the sessions of this debate, we will get a full printout of the Member’s ventilations so that as the drafters craft the envisaged law, they will come up with the best law. It is through the NG-CDF that the secondary schools that we have built – like the 35 that are in my constituency – have administration blocks and laboratories and they can compete with schools like Starehe and others. These are schools that nobody never thought in their life time they could have such infrastructure. There are primary schools that have been neglected for a long time. In my constituency, there is a school called Kapkures Primary School, which had a mud-walled administration block. There are schools that had mud-walled classrooms – like Meli Primary School – which have since received a facelift and dignity, courtesy of the NG-CDF. Teachers had terrible working conditions from toilets to classrooms and offices. You would find different classes sharing one classroom, where students of one class would face in one direction while those of the other class face the opposite direction. That was a chaotic scene. However, through the NG-CDF, we have ensured that we have made their standards to be akin to academies of private schools. That means we have equalised every child regardless of whether they are going to a public school or a private academy. They are getting the same standards and almost similar infrastructure, courtesy of the NG-CDF. We have too many people who are direct beneficiaries of the NG-CDF – from employees, members of committees that are constituted in the constituencies to people who work in the NG-CDF offices. What this Fund has done is to set the pace of how other funds should be administrated. What do I mean by that? The NG-CDF has set the threshold of how much money should go, for example, to bursaries and what percentages should go to construction, sports and environmental management. The law is very clear on how that should be done. I do not think there is any other law that has such clear guidelines on how administration of a fund should be done. That is the best practice that county governments should borrow so that they do not end up spending 80 per cent of their resources on paying workers – some of whom have been shown through audits to be ghost workers – and spend a small percentage on development. The push and shove of NG-CDF has had many enemies from people who feel like the Fund has made them look bad because they are not delivering. On this, we have had many sponsored cases and back and forth from the Judiciary. We have had a long battle for a long time with that. So, this proposed constitutional amendment will put the matter to rest and we will be able to deal with issues as they come. The electronic version of the Official Hansard Report is for information purposesonly. A certified version of this Report can be obtained from the Hansard Editor."
}