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{
    "id": 1194309,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/1194309/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 281,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "Nairobi City County, ODM",
    "speaker_title": "Hon. Esther Passaris",
    "speaker": null,
    "content": "the funds? It is because this country is different from other countries in the sense that we need a relationship between the people we represent and legislators. Kenyans want to know what you have done for them lately and how it has benefited their children. If we remove the NG- CDF and NGAAF, the people that we serve will feel that there is nothing in it for them to even come out and vote. We saw voter apathy in the last election. Over 8 million people did not vote. If you eliminate these funds, people will not see the need to vote because there will be nothing in it for them. They will be unable to access the Executive or go to the ministries. If county governments were able to address the issues of schools, bursaries and police stations, we would say they are doing it. County governments are already facing challenges. They have bloated numbers of staff and many debts that they need to cover over the years. We need to understand that, as the population grows, we need more schools and police stations. We also need to support families that cannot afford to educate their children. I appeal that NGAAF is also anchored into the Constitution as a percentage. Each women representative only gets Ksh6 million per constituency. That means a women representative has Ksh1.2 million for bursaries for the entire year. A senior constituency Member of Parliament has Ksh25 million. When you compare how the majority male Members of Parliament in single member constituencies perform with the women, they have huge crowds and reach more people. We are only able to reach out to 20 students in a ward in a year, if we give out Ksh10,000. Giving money to 20 students in an entire ward will not be felt. Another problem we have with NGAAF is the fact that it is an affirmative action fund. When you want to help chamas by telling them that women representatives have money for them, yet we are only able to fund 10 chamas in a year and two per ward, we cannot be felt. Our constituents want to feel their leaders. They want to access representation. They want to see how you can improve their lives. There is talk about looking for funds for the Hustlers Fund, and in so doing, they might collapse some of these funds. I heard His Excellency the President say that he understood the importance of the NG-CDF and the NGAAF. Our able chair, Mukami wa Mukami, represented us and told them not to cut NGAAF if they were looking to cut funds. The NGAAF will be further cut by Khs500 million. We hope that it can be given a percentage as well. Because we serve counties, we also want to ensure that we have an oversight fund. When the Senate was asking for an oversight fund, I heard Hon. Members who were representing the NG-CDF ask for the same because we are patrons. We need an oversight fund to do monitoring and evaluation to make sure that the fund has done what it was meant to do. As a country, we cannot afford to lose this benefit that comes through Members of Parliament for the people that we represent. They need bursaries. If you look at my phone right now, I have a number of messages asking for bursaries. Children are being sent home on a daily basis. How will we ensure that children go to school? An idle mind is the devil’s playing field. If all these children cannot go to school; if we cannot have police stations; if we cannot have bursaries; if we cannot have more schools, we will be breeding criminals rather than able citizens who will serve this country going forward. I support this fully and ask the President to work towards his hustlers’ fund, which is important, and also enhance the NG-CDF and the NGAAF. Thank you"
}