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{
    "id": 1459601,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/1459601/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 223,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "Baringo North, UDA",
    "speaker_title": "Hon. Joseph Makilap",
    "speaker": null,
    "content": "Hon. Deputy Speaker, I have listened to the Chairman of the Budget and Appropriations Committee. Under these circumstances, as a House, we need to agree on what is critical for employment of the youth of this country who are unable to be absorbed in the economy. We sacrificed funding other programmes so that 6,000 JSS teachers could be employed. We have financed employment of the intern doctors because they are the ones who take care of our health. If we take care of our education through employment of teachers, and we take care of our health by ensuring that we employ the interns on permanent and pensionable terms, then we will grow the economy. If we take care of our system of education, we will not produce people or graduates who have not undergone proper training because of lack of teachers. The JSS teachers are simply graduates like other graduates who have been employed previously on permanent and pensionable terms. Under these circumstances, as Parliament, we have agreed to cut off Ksh3 billion of our travel expenses, so that the children of Kenya will have an opportunity to be employed as JSS teachers. We will also employ intern doctors. This is prudent use of resources. If you look at this proposal, the money that goes to the county governments was reduced by Ksh20 billion. In addition, another Ksh30 billion that was not paid during the Financial Year 2023/2024 was factored in. The county governments’ budget is Ksh410 billion now. Resources that have already been earmarked for this particular function are actually brought forth. You are aware that by the end of the last Financial Year, the NG-CDF had not received about Ksh13.5 billion. That is the money that has already been brought forward, so that we can finance the programmes that were expected to be done in the previous years. It is good for the Members of this House to realise that when the value of the dollar against the Kenyan Shilling came down from US$160 to US$130, it gave us a debt relief of about Ksh570 billion. This will enable us to save more resources for our programmes. It means that if Kenya has to live within its means, then we must reduce expenditure on parastatals that are taking a lot of money and giving Kenyans less money. So, we agree with the merging of about 47 parastatals so that we have a lean Government that we can finance and grow the economy; rather than creating a lot of organisations that take a lot of money, especially on recurrent expenditure and travel allowances. For us to grow this economy, we should look at the agriculture sector in many ways. Look at the livestock industry which is an economy of the pastoral community. More than 80 per cent of Kenyans practise pastoralism. That is an area that we need more resources. We know that Ksh14.5 billion was set aside in the Budget for rural electrification in our constituencies. This is a factor that we must reconsider in the next Supplementary Budget because electricity is key in the re-election of these Members, and ensuring there is equity throughout the Republic of Kenya in terms of power distribution. There are people in parts of this country who have never even seen electricity wires. The electronic version of the Official Hansard Report is for information purposesonly. A certified version of this Report can be obtained from the Hansard Editor."
}