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{
    "id": 1193446,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/1193446/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 171,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "Kitui Rural, WDM",
    "speaker_title": "Hon. David Mwalika",
    "speaker": null,
    "content": "thank the people of Kitui Rural for re-electing me for a second term to serve them. I also want to thank the Members who came to support me because my election was postponed. I also thank my party leader, Dr. Stephen Kalonzo, for the invaluable support he accorded me. Hon. Deputy Speaker, from the outset, I want to support this legislative proposal. I thank Hon. Mule and Hon. Gichimu for bringing it to the House so that we anchor the NG- CDF, the NGAAF, the Economic Stimulus and Empowerment Fund and the Senate Oversight Fund in the Constitution. The importance of the NG-CDF cannot be understated. Anybody trying to belittle or scrap it is not only an enemy of this country but also the people elected to sit in this august House. I can assure you that without the NG-CDF, most of us would not have come back, or will not come back to this Parliament. This is because after five years, what will you tell the people you have done for them? The NG-CDF is the only fund whose effect can be seen on the ground. It supports the low-income people. It has done a lot in terms of construction of school infrastructure, including building new schools, classrooms, dormitories, dining halls and renovation of schools. Where I come from, in Kitui County, the poverty levels are quite high. Before the NG-CDF came into being, most primary schools were constructed using mud in Kitui County but today they are constructed using blocks. This is a very good thing because if the school infrastructure is good, you will expect good grades. Hon. Deputy Speaker, the NG-CDF has given bursaries and scholarships to many students. As we speak, many students are at home because their parents cannot afford to pay school fees for them. I am very sure that most of Members of Parliament cannot sleep in their homes because parents are looking for them left, right and centre to request for money. As you know very well, we do not have that kind of money to give as school fees. The NG-CDF has also been used to construct chiefs’ offices and police stations, which are very important for the security of our people. When these funds are used to construct schools, we use the local business people to do the work. Therefore, the NG-CDF supports the local economies because these people employ others who earn income. We need to increase the NG-CDF because if we get double the amounts that we were getting, we will do a lot more. Hon. Deputy Speaker, in reference to NGAAF, I understand the Women Representatives are given only Ksh7million per constituency, which is too little. This Fund needs to be increased so that its impact can also be seen on the ground. The Senate Oversight Fund is an issue which has been discussed for long. At times we are our own enemies as Parliamentarians. I remember this proposal coming to this House only for it to be ignored. The work of the Senators is to oversee the counties – a very important function. The level of misuse of public funds in county governments is so high. In fact, there are some counties which get billions of shillings but they cannot show anything they have done using those funds. Therefore, we need to approve the Senate the Oversight Fund so that Senators can be able to monitor and evaluation what happens in the counties."
}