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{
"id": 1520118,
"url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/1520118/?format=api",
"text_counter": 109,
"type": "speech",
"speaker_name": "Elda, JP",
"speaker_title": "Hon Adan Keynan",
"speaker": null,
"content": "Allow me to delve a bit into the history of this particular Article. During the countdown to the current Constitution, there were three contending groups. One group led by the late President Mwai Kibaki and cohort, wanted a pure presidential system. Another group led by the Hon. Raila Odinga wanted a pure parliamentary system. In between, during the discourse, there emerged another group, which said: In the midst of all this, what is there for the disadvantaged groups? That brought in the issue of devolution and the inclusion of this particular clause to address all the historical marginalisation, pursuant to the wrong implementation of the old Constitution, and also Sessional Paper No.10 of 1965, and you know the provisions. Hon. Deputy Speaker, shockingly, even after the promulgation of the current Constitution, and because of the red tape and bureaucratic nature of the system, the operationalisation and the role of this particular Article has not been conceptualised and implemented well, and the systems created some sort of jurisdictional conflict between the Members of Parliament and the governors. So, the 20-year period is coming to an end and yet there is nothing to demonstrate on the ground. I represent one of the constituencies that ought to have benefited yet there is nothing to demonstrate on the ground that this particular Fund has benefited the people who were tailor-made for. What then is the meaning of this? Members of Parliament have been sucked into a role that is not theirs, and I really want to agree with you that the governors want to usurp the mandate of the National Assembly. As the Members of the National Assembly, we have failed to think out of the box, and we have fallen into their trap. This trap only suits the bureaucrats and the National Treasury mandarins. We have lost it. It is not Ksh13 billion. It is over Ksh70 billion that is floating between the National Treasury, the National Assembly, and the counties. The sunset period is approaching. What is our take? It is high time we put aside all our differences and apply the letter and the spirit of what this particular Article was intended for, and budget for all the outstanding money, send the money direct to the National Government-Constituencies Development Fund (NG-CDF) and the constituencies. This Bill should address and facilitate us so that Members of Parliament have a role to play. Hon. Deputy Speaker, I followed what happened to the budget in the last financial year and I am told that other than what Hon. Bashir has alluded to, of having small projects here and there, Ksh2 million or Ksh3 million that have no impact, the remaining chunk of the budgetary allocation has been sucked into the county allocations, and will not help us. Through the Pastoralist Parliamentary Group (PPG) and the other groups, I am not worried because even the 34 counties or the original 13 can benefit, but this programme is not working. We cannot be lamenting as a leadership yet through this Bill, we must cure the pitfalls. We must address the challenges so that the next six years remaining in this programme can be productive. Colleagues, for those of you who have joined this House, this programme was supposed to be a life changer yet it is not working. Hon. Deputy Speaker, you remember at the end of the Second World War, the victors and the vanquished came together and came up with something called the Marshall Plan. Marshall Plan gave birth to something called the US Agency for International Development (USAID). Unfortunately, you have heard what is happening to USAID right now. In our context, for those of us who live under this sovereign republic called Kenya, this is our Marshall Plan. The Marshall Plan of the US worked. Why is it not working? How come we are not getting our rightful share? How come every step that we take must attract court battles? It is because we are not thinking out of the box. I want to thank the Mover of this Bill. It is timely, but I think there is a need to look at it critically so that we can address all the gaps, so that once this is passed, any would-be litigant, will not go to court and have it declared unconstitutional. These days, litigants have become, I 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."
}