HTTP 200 OK
Allow: GET, PUT, PATCH, DELETE, HEAD, OPTIONS
Content-Type: application/json
Vary: Accept
{
"id": 135597,
"url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/135597/?format=api",
"text_counter": 405,
"type": "other",
"speaker_name": "",
"speaker_title": "",
"speaker": null,
"content": "This Ministry needs to be funded if this nation is serious about development and achieving those tangible results that it has committed itself to in Vision 2030. If this Government is serious about realizing the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) at the global level, then this Ministry, which is crucial for planning, must be funded adequately. As it is, and it has always been since Independence, we see a lot in the public and international fora in terms of policy deliberations but when it comes to actual funding and implementation of what needs to be done, very little is seen. Very little is actually invested for us to realize what we are saying we would like to realize by 2030 or by such period set by the MDGs. Just to give you an example, we now have 224 districts yet we have not done enough planning in terms of budgeting and availing resources to enable these districts to take off. Very few of them have District Development Officers or the necessary planners yet we are creating districts every other weekend, conveniently, for political reasons. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, this Ministry must be facilitated. Our District Development Officers (DDOs) and their deputies who are responsible for development planning in our districts must be facilitated to move from one corner of the district to the other, so that they can ensure that Government funds are well utilized to realize our development targets. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, my constituency is as big as three provinces combined - Nyanza, Central and Western provinces. It is almost 4,000 square kilometers and yet, my DDO does not even have an old Land Rover, let alone a Land Cruiser, to move him around! How can the Government be serious in terms of achieving that goal if the DDO responsible for that region cannot reach all the areas up to now? Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, with the Millennium Development Goals (MDG), we have 24 pilot districts. I wonder how the Ministry actually selected those districts. Are those 24 districts really representative? If they are, I really ask myself now and then: How come Marsabit North or North Horr Constituency, for that matter, was not included; as poor as it is and with all the unique circumstances that are inherent in that particular district? I really hope that when they increase the number of pilot districts under the MDGs, my district or North Horr Constituency will be considered. That is because it is the third poorest, even by their own data, in this Republic. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, it is very, very important for the Ministry to realize that this country has moved on, not necessarily from the policy documents but, at least, from the Budget that was read a few weeks ago. It seems that we have decided to use constituencies as a unit for planning, as opposed to the districts in the past. I really hope that the Ministry will do some orientation in terms of planning and, maybe, use our constituencies as the unit for planning. Finally, Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, as the Ministry responsible for the Constituencies Development Fund (CDF), and realizing the good work that the CDF has done in this country over the years, I really hope that the Ministry will spearhead the efforts of CDF and free it from civil servants and bureaucrats. Any development program is supposed to deliver tangible gains or benefits in a short period. But because of the bureaucracy by the district treasurer and district accountant, who are lesser in degree than the DDOs, it is still curtailing our efforts."
}