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{
    "id": 1238903,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/1238903/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 207,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "South Mugirango, UDA",
    "speaker_title": "Hon. Silvanus Osoro",
    "speaker": null,
    "content": "Hon. Temporary Speaker, it will be very important for us to state that the decentralised funds are spread out in different areas but the NG-CDF is very visible on the things it does because those things touch on the common mwananchi. We are directly involved in overseeing the decentralised funds. The people and Members of Parliament that came before us set a clear precedent as far as the oversight of such funds is concerned. That is why it is very easy for any member of the public to walk in the streets and identify a single project. You cannot walk about 10 metres without noticing a project done by the NG-CDF. You cannot walk in any constituency and fail to notice a project that has been done by NG-CDF which is overseen by the Members of Parliament. This is contrary to what we see in the county governments. You will sometimes have county government officers appearing before committees seeking to be allocated huge sums of money yet you cannot identify a single project. In fact, in my county, we have a history where the county government claims to have given each household a cow. For some reason, I thought that somebody might have taken my cow because that was the report at that particular point. You can hardly see anything done by the county government. You will struggle to see. Due to the structures that were put up by the people who came before us, you are able to identify the NG-CDF projects. In picking the words of my colleagues who have spoken before me, it is important for us to be keen on all the things that have been raised by the Decentralised Funds Accounts Committee because there are things that affect the operations of the NG-CDF like the district accountants as mentioned by someone. There is need for us to come up with other structures. I remember a time when my committee was meant to commission some classroom block that was done by the NG- CDF, but the contractor had not been paid and he declined to hand over the keys. When we tried to ask, he said that the fund manager told him that the district accountant is not there to sign the cheque and he had not approved. When we tried to call the guy, he said that he was upcountry and could not come. He asked us to give him about three days. Those gentlemen who are sent as district accountants are turning out to be small gods as far as these funds are concerned. We keep begging them at times to make sure that they are available for purposes of signing and such kind of things. Even as we do that, it is also very important for us, as the people who oversee these funds, to propose matters of construction of the schools and anything that is directly on us, equitably. Sometimes it pains us when we move to other areas and notice that there are some areas that are well done and others not well done. But again, it is also because of equitable funds. It has never made sense to some of us that in a constituency like mine that has about 158 schools, I get an equal amount as the constituencies that have about 40 schools. Sometimes you see members of the public complaining that we are not building storey buildings like our neighbours. This is because my neighbours have 40 schools while I have 158 yet we get an equal amount of money. Those are the things that we also need to discuss even as we discuss this Report so that we get some equitable amount so as to mitigate challenges of high population or very many schools. I beg to support the Report. Thank you very much."
}