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{
    "id": 13513,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/13513/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 565,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "Mr. Raila",
    "speaker_title": "The Prime Minister",
    "speaker": {
        "id": 195,
        "legal_name": "Raila Amolo Odinga",
        "slug": "raila-odinga"
    },
    "content": "Programme. The Component finances labour intensive projects that provide income opportunities to participating youth through payment of wages and at the same time enhance community access to social and economic infrastructure. The target group of the Component is the unemployed youth aged between 18 and 35 years. The Office of the Prime Minister has concerns that the Component does not have adequate controls to ensure that the project resources are spent only for the specific purposes intended, given the decentralised nature of the project. This is a result of the First Phase experience. The Component is implemented through six line Ministries, with a total of 406 sub-projects in the eight pilot counties in the first year of operation. Based on implementation experience, to-date, it will be difficult to strengthen systems sufficiently to ensure an effective span of control over all the sub-project activities. These include the financial management arrangements at the district-level, which involves payments to individual youths. These concerns are reflected in the conclusion of the recent World Bank Financial Management Review that rated the component as high risk. In that regard, the Office of the Prime Minister, after consultation with the World Bank, would like to request Treasury to cancel this Component of the Kenya Youth Empowerment Project. The Office of the Prime Minister intends to refund all the World Bank financing that has been disbursed to this component to date, including both the credit and the associated Grant. The Office of the Prime Minister will work with the implementing line Ministries and Treasury to enable this repayment as soon as possible. In this regard, I would like to request that your office initiate the restructuring of the Kenya Youth Empowerment Project to cancel this component and relocate this financing to other activities of the World Bank Kenya portfolios. The World Bank has confirmed that it will continue to support the social protection with Kenya and it is empowering a new operation to prove more strategic to support this sector.” In other words, this money is just being relocated. The money is not lost anywhere. Mr. Speaker, Sir, finally, Dr. Khalwale referred to a deposit of Kshs300 for the youth groups, a letter which was written. That money was not being charged to the youth groups. That money was to be deposited in the account by the youth groups to show that they are serious groups. They were depositing it in their accounts and it belonged to them. So, it was not a charge to the youth groups. It was only to be able to discriminate to find out which one is serious and which one is not serious. The amount of Kshs300 is a token just for the youth group to demonstrate seriousness. Finally, I want to urge the House that this is a serious programme. It is a serious project which is aimed at alleviating poverty and creating employment for our youth. We need to look at ways and means of making it much more cost-effective. That is why the suggestion that local leadership be involved in management is quite acceptable to the Government. Mr. Speaker, Sir, I have endeavoured to provide all the detailed information, so that the minds of Kenyans are not poisoned about the project which is aimed and intended to help our youth. I want to conclude by saying that this KKV Phase II; that is, the Kenya Youth Empowerment Project which has not yet kicked off is at its infancy. Up to now, not a single penny has been lost in this programme. We have learnt from the three years of Phase I. We will ensure that the money that will be allocated by the World Bank and any other donors to these programmes does meet the needs of our youth. Thank you."
}